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Monuments and Memories

This past weekend, “Clearview Christian Camp” at Kenosee Lake celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Clearview is sort of a “sacred place” for me. Just being there brings back good memories of laughing around the campfire, work days building cabins and of people who lived their faith and were an example to me. Just being at that camp always connects me to good things from the past.

Why am I telling you this? Well, lately I have been thinking more about the importance of memories. When a person loses their memory, either because of injury or age, they lose something very significant. Somehow, our ability to live well now is tied to our ability to remember what has gone on before.

That is the principle that is on display in Joshua chapter four. After God miraculously stopped the flow of the Jordan River so the Israelites could cross into the promised land, he gave this command: “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” (Verses 2 and 3). Then he added, “In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 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… and they are there to this day” (Verses 6-7 and 9).

The Israelites needed that pile of stones and that “sacred place” as a reminder. They needed that spot so that they would have the chance to tell their story. It was of utmost importance that they remember how God had taken care of them in the past, so God gave them a place to do it.

So it is worth asking: When the next generation looks at the “monuments” that you are leaving behind, what stories will they tell?

We are building tomorrow’s memories today, so we better build well.

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