and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
(Joshua 4:5-7 NIV)
by Terence
In Joshua chapter 4, the 12 Tribes of Israel were about to
cross the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. The Children of Israel were headed for the
Promised Land and had the impossible task of crossing the Jordan River.
Not only would the Children of Israel cross…but
they crossed the river on dry ground. Often time, our Promise Land is on the other
side of a great trial or tribulation.
The LORD commanded
Joshua (Joshua 4:2) “Choose
twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the
Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them
over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
Those stones did not come from the shore of
the Jordan; they came from the MIDDLE of the Jordan. The stones were meant to come from the middle
of their trial.
It is important as fathers that we not only tell our
children about our good times but also our times of struggle.
The people of Israel needed a way to cross
the Jordan and God provided. It is
important that we pass on a remnant of God’s faithfulness to our children. When they are in a difficult situation and
need God to provide a way out of no way… they can look back on the stones that
we have collected from our times of trials and tribulations.
Often times our pride only wants to show our personal
success but our failures regularly present a greater learning opportunity. As men, fathers or not, let us leave stones
for the next generation. Stones that
will help blaze a path celebrating the faithfulness of God.
Lets pray...
"Lord thank you for your faithfulness. As we are honored today as earthly men, we honor you as the greatest Father of all. Your love, mercy, and compassion is what we strive to model in our lives daily. Today let us not only give thanks to each other as godly men and fathers, but to express our love towards you Father for who you are in our lives. Happy Father's Day Dad!
Amen"
