Joshua
4:20-24 And
those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at
Gilgal…. “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these
stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this
Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan
for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which
he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth
may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your
God forever.”
Have you seen a miracle lately? Do you even believe
in miracles? Miracles can only happen if there is a God to make them occur.
Otherwise, they are random events that result from the created order of things.
As Christians, we believe in miracles and we believe God is the author of them all.
Joshua and the people he led into the Promised Land
saw another miracle. The stopping of the waters flowing in the Jordan River was
a miracle. It was a great miracle because God stopped the flow of water at the
height of its annual flow. This miracle caught their attention.
Twelve memorial stones were set on the site as a
reminder to future generations of God’s miraculous provision. God had made a
way for them to cross into the land He had promised to give Moses and the
people who had fled Egypt.
The Christian faith continues to this day. It is
based in a miracle of Christ’s resurrection from the grave. He has conquered
death and leads his people from this life into the Promised Land of heaven. Our
reminder of this miracle is our celebration of Easter. Each year the memorial
celebration has us thinking back to that day when Christ came to life and
showed himself to the first disciples.
Our generation will pass on this memorial event and
thereby continue the message of hope to a new generation to come. God is
faithful.
