Opening Illustration – Finding the Road Again
Have you ever driven a long stretch of unfamiliar highway at night?
You keep glancing for the next green sign or reflective number — a mile marker — proof that you’re still on the right road.
Without those markers, even a straight road can feel uncertain.
Life works the same way.
Faith is a road that runs through valleys and detours, and God — in His mercy — has placed mile markers all along the way.
They remind us of where we’ve been, who brought us there, and where we’re going next.
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The Scene at the Jordan
Israel had wandered forty years.
Now the nation stood at the flooded Jordan, facing Canaan — the land of promise.
Joshua told the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
And when the priests carrying the ark stepped into the river, the water stopped.
Two million people crossed on dry ground.
Then came the curious command:
> “Take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan… and when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ you shall tell them.”. — Joshua 4 : 6 – 7
Twelve men — one from each tribe — picked up heavy, wet stones from the riverbed and stacked them at Gilgal.
It wasn’t decoration. It was declaration.
Those stones became Israel’s first mile marker in the new land.
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Remembering Is Not Sentiment — It’s Sanctification
When we read “Sanctify the Lord in your hearts” (1 Peter 3 : 15), the meaning is to set God apart — to treat Him as holy, unique, trustworthy.
That’s what those stones did.
Every time someone walked past, they silently proclaimed,
> “The Lord did this. He keeps His word.”
To remember is to sanctify.
When you tell your story and give God credit, you make Him holy in the hearing of others.
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Why God Insists on Mile Markers
1. Because we forget fast.
Memory leaks. Blessings fade into normalcy.
God knows that gratitude has to be refreshed, or pride will take its place.
2. Because our children will ask.
“What do these stones mean to you?”
The next generation learns theology by listening to our testimony.
When we point to our stones — our answered prayers, our deliverance stories — we hand them faith with fingerprints.
3. Because the road ahead will test us again.
The God who opened yesterday’s Jordan will ask us to trust Him at tomorrow’s Jericho.
The stones behind us are fuel for faith before us.
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A Modern Translation
Your mile markers might not be stones.
They might be:
A date circled in your Bible.
A hospital wristband you couldn’t throw away.
A letter of forgiveness you finally wrote.
A journal line that reads, “He came through again.”
Each is a testimony in tangible form — a quiet sermon that says, “God is faithful.”
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When Remembering Sanctifies God
Isaiah told a fearful nation, “Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.” (Isa 8 : 13)
Meaning: don’t give your fear to anything smaller than God.
To sanctify Him is to remember who He really is when everything else feels threatening.
That’s what those stones did for Israel.
Every time the nation forgot, they could look back and say,
> “He stopped the river once; He can move the mountain again.”
Memory becomes worship when it keeps God at the center.
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Personal Reflection
Pause and think:
What mile markers has God placed in your journey?
Where has He proved faithful beyond reason?
What moments in your story deserve a small stack of stones?
Write them down. Tell them.
Because every unspoken testimony is a stone left underwater — unseen, unsanctified.
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Part 2 : Walking the Road Ahead
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1. The Road Keeps Going
The Israelites didn’t stop at Gilgal. They didn’t pitch tents forever around the pile of stones.
They moved on — to Jericho, to Ai, to the long road through Canaan.
That’s the first lesson of the mile marker:
You don’t live at the marker; you live beyond it.
It’s not a monument to camp beside; it’s a reminder that God keeps moving, and so should we.
Faith isn’t nostalgia.
It’s forward motion built on remembered grace.
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2. Building New Mile Markers
We’re quick to recognize God’s big miracles — but slow to mark His everyday mercies.
Yet if you look closely, your life is dotted with mile markers:
Answered prayers that changed your direction.
People who arrived at just the right time.
Doors closed that turned out to be protection, not rejection.
Quiet seasons when God taught you to wait.
Every one of these deserves a stone, even if only in your heart.
We build mile markers by pausing long enough to name God’s work — to say, “This is holy ground.”
You sanctify God not just when you pray, but when you notice.
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3. Keeping the Markers Visible
God told Israel: “When your children ask, tell them.”
The next generation can’t see your faith if you bury your stories.
Our silence about God’s goodness is one of the enemy’s best tools.
So keep your mile markers visible:
Write them down.
Tell them over Sabbath dinner.
Mention them in prayer meeting.
Build them into family stories.
The stones you stack today become the faith that steadies your children tomorrow.
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4. Don’t Move the Stones
Proverbs 22:28 warns, “Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.”
That’s another way of saying — don’t rewrite your story to make it about you.
Keep your markers where they belong: at the intersection of your weakness and God’s strength.
If you start moving the stones to fit your pride, they lose their power to sanctify God.
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5. Modern Jericho Moments
After Gilgal came Jericho — walls too high, enemies too strong.
God told Joshua to march, not fight.
And when the walls fell, Israel understood what those stones had been preparing them for: faith in advance.
When your next Jericho looms, go back to your markers.
Rehearse what He’s already done.
Faith grows strongest in the soil of memory.
> You sanctify God when you face tomorrow’s walls with yesterday’s confidence.
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6. The New Testament Parallel
Peter ties it all together:
> “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15)
Notice the connection: sanctify — then testify.
You can’t give an answer for hope you’ve forgotten.
When you remember the markers, you carry evidence.
When you speak of them, you become a living memorial — your life the sermon, your words the stones.
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7. Sanctifying God on the Open Road
To sanctify God is not to make Him holy — it’s to treat Him as holy.
We do that every time we stop to give Him credit, every time we trust Him without visible proof, every time we speak His name with reverence instead of routine.
Every worship service, every prayer of gratitude, every act of faith in adversity — those are mile markers too.
> When the world sees you still trusting, still walking, still giving thanks — that’s a public stack of stones.
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8. Your Story Becomes Someone Else’s Signpost
Israel’s stones didn’t just remind them — they evangelized.
Travelers passing through Gilgal would see them and ask, “What happened here?”
In the same way, people watch your journey.
They see how you handle fear, loss, or success.
Your reaction becomes their road sign.
> The way you remember God becomes the way others find Him.
That’s why sanctifying God isn’t private devotion only — it’s public witness.
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9. The Greatest Mile Marker of All
All of Scripture’s markers point to one ultimate memorial — a stone rolled away from a tomb outside Jerusalem.
That’s the definitive reminder that God finishes what He begins.
Every Jordan, every Jericho, every sorrow finds its meaning there.
The resurrection is the eternal “Gilgal” of grace — proof that the God who parts rivers also conquers death.
If you ever doubt whether God still marks the road, look back to that empty tomb.
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10. The Journey Continues
Life’s road keeps unfolding — new places, new trials, new wonders.
But the secret to steady faith is this:
Keep stacking your stones.
Keep sanctifying your God.
Keep pointing others to the markers that prove He’s real.
And one day, when we cross the final river, we’ll see that every mile marker led to the same destination — home.
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Closing Appeal
Maybe you’ve been walking so long you’ve forgotten how far you’ve come.
Maybe you’ve stopped to rest at the wrong monument — grief, regret, or pride.
Tonight, ask God to help you find your mile markers again — to see His fingerprints on your journey, and to sanctify Him in your heart.
Because when you remember rightly, you’ll walk confidently.
And the road ahead will look less uncertain when you can trace the God who marked the way behind you.
