by Dennis and Barbara Rainey

Joshua 4:21-24
And he said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' then you shall inform your children, saying, 'Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed,...that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty."

If you've traveled around the United States you've noticed historical landmarks. In Williamsburg, Virginia, they have restored a community that was very significant in the founding of our country. When you sit where our founding fathers must have sat, you feel a sense of the events that took place there. Suddenly Patrick Henry's words "Give me liberty or give me death" take on a different meaning.

Landmarks like these remind us of our heritage as Americans.

I find it significant that God gave the Israelites landmarks as well. These landmarks caused the people to remember Him and His provisions for them.

The passage I quoted above tells of a spiritual landmark that is symbolic of the provision of God. Joshua 4 tells of how one man from each tribe took a stone from the middle of the Jordan River and created a memorial. Now, why do you think God did that? I think it's because we are forgetful, and children are curious.

Children ask great questions. "How big is high?" "How far away is a star?" I can almost picture a grandfather walking along the Jordan River with his grandson, and the little boy seeing that pile of stones barely poking from the surface of the water. "Grandpa, how did those stones get out there?"

"Well, let me tell you about that...."

And when the story is over: "Aw come on, Grandpa. You've got to be kidding me. The river stopped-in flood season? It was dry ground?"

"Well, how do you think the stones got there?"

A spiritual landmark was designed by God to remind us of how He has provided for His people in the past and to prompt us to believe Him today.

Prayer:

Why not find a place where you can pile some stones together to remind you of something significant God has done in your life? Pile the stones up and celebrate God's provision by giving thanks together.

Discuss: What are some landmarks in your life? What are some ways He has worked in your life? Let me encourage you both to take a sheet of paper and list the major spiritual landmarks in your lives.

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