Rock On

Rock On

Bible Blast: Read Joshua 4:1-9

You can tell them, “They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant went across.” These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever. Joshua 4:7

Arizona State University is a really rockin’ place! Literally.

Since 2004, the University’s Rock Around the World (RATW) program has had people mailing rocks to them from all over the place. If you mail them a rock, they’ll investigate and scan it and tell you what it’s made of and maybe some other interesting factoids. The Rock Around the World program receives an average of fifty to a hundred rocks each month. (I hope their mailperson does some serious back exercises!)

In the story from our Bible Blast reading today, Joshua made his own pile of important rocks—actually, he made two piles. God had just done a big miracle: He held back the water of the Jordan River so Joshua could lead the Israelites across into the land God had promised them. God had done the same thing with the Red Sea back when Moses took everyone out of Egypt.

Afterward, God instructed Joshua to set up a memorial of twelve stones to remind the Israelites forever that God had worked a miracle for his people. Can’t you just see a grandpa taking his grandson out to that memorial and saying, “Now, Grandson, this is here because back when we first came to this land, God held back the river to let us walk across!”

Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones on the riverbed before God released the waters again. Verse 9 says, “And they are there to this day.” Okay. If I were a superadventurous traveling scuba diver, I would totally be going to the Jordan River, trying to find that pile of stones, wouldn’t you?

It’s good to remember what God has done. Even if we think we’ll never forget, sometimes we do unless we write it down or make a pile of twelve huge rocks in memory of it.

What has God done for you?

Girl Gab: Here’s today’s challenge for you and your mom: List five amazing things God has done for you. If neither of you have ever written those things down, take time to do it now. Praise God for his miracles!