It's a Journey

Intro

How many times have to spent even a short time with a child and heard them ask the infamous question, “why?”

How about when they ask you, “who is that?” or perhaps “what are we doing that or this for?”

Children learn from being told and being taught. Even more so, adults learn by being told and taught.

This morning I want us to talk about memorial day and why is it so important for us to observe this holiday and how we can relate to the Bible in these ways.

Body

Read Joshua 4:1-7

The Memorial Stones

4 And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’ ”

4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

As we read this Scripture, it is important to understand a few things.

The first thing that is important to understand, is that the Israelites have already crossed through this river once.

Something to remember is that this is not the first time the Israelites have crossed over a body of water

It is also important to understand that we are not supposed to rest on our past, rather it is a memorial of where we are supposed to be going.

God promises us and blesses us, and we must not lose sight of His blessings and His promise.

Conclusion

When we talk about those that came before us and understand they are the ones that have paved the way for us now, we can appreciate the work we must also do.