WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: What do you use to remind you of significant past events in your life? Maybe it’s family photos or other mementos or perhaps stories that you tell each other. How much do these things and those memories mean to you?

Significant stones
There is some doubt as to just how many piles of stones the people set up. Maybe it was just one, at Gilgal (see v 20). Or maybe there was a second in the river bed itself (see v 9). It is a little confusing, but we shouldn’t let that blind us to the significance of what is happening.

The stones are set up to remember, to recognise and to rejoice in what God has done. People of faith, like everyone else, tend to be forgetful, and we need these significant things to remind us of what our good God has done for us.

Never forget
Jesus told his disciples, on the night he was betrayed, to ‘Eat this and remember me’ (1 Corinthians 11:24). We need to remember because we tend to forget.

It’s interesting to note the apparently throwaway comment that the stones ‘still there’ (v 9). These stones were an enduring memorial, and remind us that God’s perspective too is long. He doesn’t forget and he remains faithful.

Respond: Looking back to the past reminds us of God’s goodness and gives us hope for the future. Next time you come to the Lord’s table, look back with thanks – and look forward with faith as well.

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-02-04