What Do These Stones Mean?

Joshua 4:5-6 (New American Standard Bible)



5 and Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 6 "Let this be a sign among you, so that (A)when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'


I was born into a Christian home, in fact I attended church regularly even before I made myself know on Jan 29, 1962. I had the real blessing of being raised by 2 Godly parents. We went to church every Sunday, on March 9th 1969 was promotion Sunday and I was moving up to the next department. On that Sunday I moved up to the department that my dad was the superintendent of. During the open the teacher explain the plan of salvation. That was the day it made sense to me. As we split up to go to our classes I stayed to talk to my teacher, Mrs. Rose. She helped me understand fully the decision I was making. She prayed with me that morning and I became a child of God.

From that day my journey continued. We continued to attend church and I grew through the Bible lesson and verse that I memorized. I was a member of Christian Service Brigade. When I joined the group at my church I made it my goal to become a Harold of Christ, which is the highest award you could attain, it is like earning the Eagle Scout with the added benefit of having Bible lessons and Bible verses to learn. The verses learned were just over 150. I am thankful for the verse I learned and the way God brings them back to me just when I need them.



After graduation in 1980 I attended Moody Bible Institute. I learned many lesson there. Many of the long lasting lessons weren’t in the classroom but living with Christian guys in the dorm. I remember one night 14 of us stayed up all night in the lounge not studying but praying for one of us that had a mother that was very sick. Another time we banned together with our sister floor to help bring a sick missionary home from the mission field that was very sick. Between my freshman and junior year my dad was laid off from Ford Motor Company. I decided that I was going to drop out of school and go home to work to help my family out. My dad told me “no” that God would supply. God did take care of our family, just shy of a year my dad was hired back on with Ford and he didn’t lose any time for the year off. During Christmas break of that year the Lord supplied 3 jobs for me to work. I made all but $79.00 that I needed so I could continue my schooling. Just as I was starting to get discouraged thinking I work all these hours and I still don’t have enough, there in my mail box was an envelope with just my name on it. When I opened it up inside was $79.00. God had completely supplied all my financial needs part through hard work and part from somebody that was faithful to what God had told them to do.



Back to our verse: Joshua 4:5 -6 Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Joshua 4:5 -6


Sitting on my desk I have a rock with March 9, 1969 written on it. I keep this rock at my desk as a constant reminder that I became a child of God on that day. I challenge each of you to write the date you became a Christian on a stone as a reminder of that special day that you can share with others.

Dear Lord we thank You for having us as your children. We pray that we would always remember that day and be willing to share it with those around us. In Jesus' name, Amen.