This is just a quick post and I may post later. I put Elijah down for his nap at about 9:30 this morning, and it's been just over an hour and he hasn't awakened yet. I'm pushing my luck even getting to post.
I was reading Joshua 1-5 today and had a quick thought. Out of all that text, this is the most important thing I got...
Joshua 4:2-3 "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 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."
God knew that the Israelites would need a reminder. He knew that they are prone to forget. We need reminders. I used to criticize those people who would wear crosses around their necks and on rings or hang them on their walls, like they were little alters. Or people who would use them as decorations cause they were "pretty". I know lots of us do have the wrong motivation for having crosses everywhere but they do have a good purpose. I thought it was ridiculous that we would lift up the instrument of torture rather than the man who was tortured. But that's not it. The instrument of torture serves to remind us of the man who died on it just as the twelve stones from the river reminded the people of the water that did not cover them. People are forgetful and we do often need constant reminders of what God has done. Even more than that, we need reminders that are just obscure enough that little children will ask what they mean, and we can relive the truth by telling it. That is why I should have a cross around my neck or on my finger; to remind me to tell the story.
So I guess I'll go dig out that old James Avery classic cross ring that I had put away so long ago. Because I need to be reminded to be amazed by what happened so long ago on that instrument of torture.
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