Joshua 4:8–9: “And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant stood; and they are there to this day.”

March 25th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Joshua set up two memorials to mark the children of Israel’s passage through the Jordan River. The purpose of the first memorial was to remind the people to teach their children about the great things God had done, so His works would not be forgotten by future generations. The second pile of stones was set up in the very bed of the river Jordan, so that when it lowered to a trickle in the summer season or during seasons of drought, the stones would be seen and would testify or remind everyone of the time God had completely dried up the Jordan for them. God’s miracles were always done to convince the people to believe and trust in God. Future generations would not see the miracles, but the stones would remind them and would also remind the parents to teach the children. It seems people tend to easily forget what God has done for them in their lives unless they are frequently reminded.

How often we fail in our trust of God because we forget the great things He has done. How often the faith of the churches’ children is weak because they have never been instructed in what God has done. We need to remember to teach our children about God’s great works of the past. Are the stones still there? Probably not, and even if they were, they would be so worn away we would not be able to tell which stones they were. But we can speak of God’s faithful acts in our own lives to our kids and grandkids. What did God do to bring you to belief in His love? Where did God take you to expose you to the truth you needed to walk with Him? Who did He bring into your path to witness to you? What has He done for and with you since? Not everyone will have natural offspring, but everyone should have spiritual offspring, those we lead to the Lord. These questions are critical to answer for our natural as well as our spiritual offspring. Has God done mighty things? Of course He has, but have we shared it with our kids recently?

“LORD, please show us a naturally supernatural way to share Your faithfulness to us with our offspring.”