Dad...what Do Those Rocks Mean?

I heard a message from a financial planner many years ago about creating a nest egg for our future. He actually spoke about the Israelites crossing over the Jordan, and how the children in years later asked their fathers…‘Dad, what do those rocks mean?’

The point was that when the Israelites grabbed the stone to make the monument, they grabbed the largest stones they could possibly struggle to carry. Not just some little rock. They used all their strength to create something that would stand the test of time.

He was talking about creating something financial. I got something spiritual from the lesson.

That message inspired me to write the following:

The Big Picture:

“Dad…what do those rocks mean?”

Create a memorial, a testimony unto the Lord in your life.

We need to make and leave a big impact for our future generations, by creating these monuments and memorials of faith, so that our children and childrens’ childrens’ children will know that we trusted in God, and that HE was with us, and that They can experience the same. And see the evidence we leave behind that they too will choose to follow the LORD JESUS CHRIST and commit to serving HIM.

Joshua 4:1-8; 19-24

We all have memories – Current, and past, from our youth

Memories

Family memories of something we did as a family

I remember the family vacation where we broke the week in 2. We stayed at OC for half the week and then at Willow Valley for the remainder of the week. We decided as a family that we liked Willow Valley better. Interesting isn’t it. At 10, I decided I liked the very place I proposed to my wife, and later had our wedding reception

I remember the first time crabbing, and I mean REALLY crabbing, with my Dad’s Hunting and Fishing buddy, Mr. Aston. I was with him in his boat, and Dad and my brother Brian were with Mr. Ormey Moore in the other boat. And we had a competition to see who caught the most crabs.

I remember going hunting with my father and Mr. Aston, learning from them both as well.

These are memories from my past that I cherish.

There are also

Spiritual Memories

Remember as a kid having a really bad day at home. I was just a mess. That night we had a church service. And I was just in an upset frame of mind. At the end of the service, the pastor gave an invitation to accept Jesus as my savior. I remember going forward and accepting Jesus, I looking back at my mom, who was in tears [of joy] and the words she said.. “I knew…I knew something was going on..”

Interesting how these memories mark us

Make us memorials of certain milestones along our path

Joshua – making memorials.

Look at 3 points

1 meaning

2 why important

3 how we can make them today

Background

After the exodus Israelites in the wilderness 40 years

Its time to go to the promised land

The Jordan is at harvest time, The Jordan is at flood stage

Priests are instructed to step into the water, once they do by faith step into the waters, the Lord will part and pile up the waters so that the Israelites will be able to cross the dry land

Once the Israelites cross over, and the priests stepped out, the waters came back to flood stage

That would be an interesting message and study sermon in itself, but what I want to talk about is what happened next. In Josh chapter 4. They made memorials

What are memorials

Someone once asked…Can you imagine what DC would look like if you removed all the statues, monuments and memorials?

What would we have…A nation without no history has no future? Perhaps?

Memorials are:

Visible reminders. They…Leave a trail. Make a record. Document what has happened.

The purpose of memorials is to create a reminder of something significant that has happened in the past

READ Josh 4:1-8, 19-24

God does impossible things…Yes?!

Habitat for Humanity builds homes for people in need. Donna was in need and saw the impossible come true. She was given a plaque to commemorate the day the home was dedicated to the LORD.

You can hang a plaque on the wall or you can pile 12 stones in the front yard

Here is what Memorials do.

Memorials, they are visible reminders to us, of how God has intervened

Memorials are Visible reminders that mark the cross over points, where God has done the thing that seemed impossible

Obvious question

Why are they important?

When the kids or people ask. Why are these stones here, Mom and Dad, Grandmom or Grandad? This gives us a chance to say how God has intervened in our lives