We all need legacy moments in our lives.
Legacy moments are markers of God’s ongoing faithfulness in the past and promises of continued faithfulness in the future.
In Joshua 4 we read of a legacy moment. For forty years the people of Israel have wandered in the desert, because of their disobedience. The time has finally come for them to break camp and enter the Promised Land. The priests hoist the ark and step into the flood waters of the Jordan River. Before them the waters recede and they step into the middle of the river, on dry ground. Quickly the people cross the river and for the first time their feet touch the soils of the Promised Land. Before the waters return to the flow one more act remains. A legacy moment. Twelve men walk to the middle of the river and pick up twelve large stones. These are brought to camp and set as a maker of remembrance.
“In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” (Joshua 4:21-24, NIV)
These stones are a reminder of the amazing thing God did the past when they crossed the Jordan River. They are also a reminder that it was not a single act, but it was one act in the line of God’s continuous faithfulness to his people when he led them across the Red Sea. They are a promise for the future. Whatever rivers are barriers might stand in the way of God’s promises they will be moved like the waters of the Red Sea and Jordan River.
We all need legacy moments, reminders of God’s ongoing faithfulness in the past and promises of his continuous faithfulness in the future. We need them because we quickly forget what God has done. These markers stand as a barrier to us when we are tempted to turn around and go back to our old way of life. It is not easy to walk past a legacy marker. They demand we turn back around and continue to press forward in the race that is set before us.
What are your legacy moments? Do you have markers of remembrance?
Pastor Stephen