Memorial Stones

And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day. Joshua 4:5-9 (KJV) emphasis mine

We all have life experiences that we need to remember- remember what God did for us. To do this, we need to build memorials and we need to find, or collect, the memorial stones. God told Israel to build a memorial of stones to remind their children what God had done for them. The stones were placed there to help them remember God and His mighty works.

In my life, I have memorials to remind me of relationships and where I was at the time when God brought certain people into my life, whether family, friends, church people, coworkers, and so on. I have reminders of places I worked and what God did for me there through the people I met. God has brought people who loved me and blessed my life, pouring into me. God has used so many people to grow me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

I have memorial dates written in my Bibles, books, and school materials so I can remember where I was and what I was doing when God gave me certain opportunities to learn His Word. I have memorials of the places in which I had opportunities to minister through the Word and music. Whether it was in a church, on the street, in nursing homes, prisons, coffee houses, in Bible college, and so on, I have attempted to record a memorial for each of them.

All of the memorial stones I have collected, I use to build an altar to remind myself how good God is and how much He has done for me. I want to encourage you to gather your own stones of remembrance and build an altar to serve as a reminder of God’s working in your life. As we remember God’s goodness, it builds our faith and serves to remind us how much He loves us. So, go gather those stones today and build an altar to glorify God.