Are River Rocks Valuable?

¹ When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 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 stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."

⁴ So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ 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."

⁸ So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. ⁹ Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant had stood. And they are there to this day."

--Joshua 4:1-9

These 12 stones were chosen and taken from a place where God taught the Israelites something. A place where God did an amazing miracle to deliver them. The stones themselves were not magical. They were not golden stones or even valuable ones. They were just river rocks. But they were assigned a value because of what they represented. Much like diamonds. Diamonds are just rocks. However, they are valuable because of the value we place on them and what they represent. Diamonds often represent love and commitment associated with marriage or engagement. They are also synonymous with wealth. Regardless of how much diamonds cost, they are still rocks that are valuable because of what they represent. For the Israelites, these river rocks represented something greater than the rocks themselves. They served as a reminder or a signpost if you will that pointed beyond themselves to the God who delivered them. They served as a reminder not only to their generation but also to their children’s generation.

As I look back on my life at the times where God did something amazing, my memories serve as my river rocks. My signposts. There was the time when I accepted Christ as my savior at 4 years old. Then there was the time as a 7^th grader when God challenged me to step up my walk with him. I’ll never forget that night before I started 9^th grade when I felt God calling me into ministry. Graduation day of High School was another time where God directed my path from Samford University to Auburn University only to bring me back to Samford 4 years later for grad school. There were dark times where God delivered me as well. For instance, my junior year of college when my fiancé and I broke up, then I lost my job as a youth minister, at the same time my truck was broken into, I changed my major in college and also my Seminary destination. Throughout all those changes in my life, God was working to get me where he wanted me. Then, the day I married my wife was another day where God did something amazing. The day when I graduated Beeson Divinity School. My mission trip to Brazil. My first book published. And more recently, accepting my first job; which ironically was 23 years exactly to the day from when I accepted Christ—the first signpost along my journey.

If you were to look at your life and were asked to pick up a “stone” from each place where God did something amazing, what would that look like? Can you come up with a list? What will you tell your children were the times when God was most real to you? Have you had your first signpost where you accepted Jesus as your savior? Perhaps that day is yet to come. Perhaps it is today.

Pray: Pray that God will reveal to you the times when he did something amazing in your life.

Do: Write down those times that God reveals to you and keep a running list so that one day you’ll look back and see the hand of God working in your life.