Stones of Remembrance, Not Anchors of Idleness

In the third chapter of the Book of Joshua, we find the account of God’s people miraculously crossing over the Jordan River into the Promised Land. In this chapter, God tells Joshua to have the priests carry the Ark of the Covenant ahead of the people and walk into the edge of the river. As soon as the priests’ feet touch the water, the river piled up on itself and stopped flowing, and as the priests stood in the middle of the river, the people crossed over on dry land.

In chapter four, God tells Joshua to have a man from each of the tribes of Israel take a large stone from the middle of the river where the priests were standing and take it to the other side. They were instructed to erect a memorial, and Ebenezer, to mark the place and occasion of God’s miraculous demonstration of power.

Today, we who are God’s people, like the Israelites of old, need to learn the importance and blessing of erecting Ebenezer stones in our lives. We need to mark times and occasions when God has moved mightily to heal, deliver, provide for, rescue, and sustain us when only He could. We need to mark those times and occasions when we are reminded in a very special way that God is ever with us and is forever faithful to His people. But we also must be careful in doing so!

It is easy to forget that Ebenezer stones are simply mile markers along an on-going journey. They are to mark the progress we have made with God’s help, not our arrival! Although the Israelites had reached the Promised Land, they were not finished! There was still a lot of work to be done, people to be conquered, land to be settled, and new lives to be started. If they had settled on the shore of the river and gone no further, they would not have experienced the promises and blessing the Lord had in store for them.

If we allow ourselves to dwell on the blessings of yesterday (not in a way that reminds us of God’s faithfulness and encourages us forward, but rather in a way that causes us to do nothing while we dwell in the past), we will miss out on God’s blessings for today and His promises of tomorrow. Yesterday’s “crossing of the Jordan” was GREAT but what about tomorrow’s “walls of Jericho”? Let’s be encouraged by what God has done in the past. Let us remember. But do not let our stones of remembrance become anchors that hold us back or weights that hold us down!

Our Needs vs. God's Commands

Something I’ve noticed over the past number of years is the lack of consistent participation by many believers in activities that constitute the life of the church. This observation has caused me to examine the possibilities of what may be the cause of this dwindling participation.

Bear in mind that I am not talking about peripheral, extra-curricular activities like church softball teams, a men’s fishing trip, or a ladies’ shopping outing. I am talking about the central activities of the church that are commanded in scripture. I’m talking about corporate worship, prayer, evangelistic efforts, and fellowship. These ‘events’ are often sporadically or poorly attended, and sometimes both! Why is this?!?

I think it has a lot to do with our motivations, and I think that this ‘phenomenon’ exists because many are more driven by their personal needs than by God’s commands. Our wants, needs, and desires have a greater influence on what we do and how we spend our time than does God’s commands and expectations.

In our local church, we have between 100 and 150 people in morning worship, but at Sunday Evening Prayer we have between 4 and 10 people on average. When we have Family First, there are usually about 30 to 50 people. And when we go door to door inviting people to come to church at Operation Invitation, we have between 3 and 6 people most of the time. Why is there such a discrepancy in the numbers?!?

I submit that it is simply because most people do not feel that a need that they have is filled by this activities. Though few would actually verbalize it, it is as if they are saying (with their actions), “I don’t go to prayer because it really doesn’t do anything for me.” or “Family First is good and all, but I just don’t get a lot out of it.” Some of those same people want to see their church grow and they sometimes act as if the leadership of the church should be doing more to make it grow. However, they are not willing to participate in reaching out and inviting people to come.

Like so many other things in the Body of Christ, our participation in the life of the church is NOT ABOUT US!!!! When God’s word clearly commands us to do certain things and models certain things in the life of believers, we should do those things consistently, faithfully, and fervently whether it directly benefits us or not!

Church is not a performance to be attended; neither is Christianity a spectator sport! We should be an active member of the Body of Christ! We should do those things that glorify and honor God and build up the Body, not just the things that benefit us!

Ask not what others can do for you, but rather what you can do for others!