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January 9 Daily Devotional

Stones that Speak

Peter G. Feenstra

Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. (Joshua 4:19–20)

Bible Reading

Joshua 4:19–24

Devotional

How do we, as Christians, respond to a changing world? How do we teach our children what is important when things are always changing? How can we maintain spiritual principles when we are bombarded by the thinking of our times which suggests there are no absolute truths?

Some well-meaning people will suggest that the best response to rapid change is that we go with the flow. If the church is to remain relevant and current in this modern age, it shouldn’t waste time resisting change. We are told that maintaining old styles of worship and preaching will result in a decrease in membership.

Although there may be some truth to what is being said, we shouldn’t allow culture to dictate the direction of the church. If we are to stand firm as a witness in this world, we cannot ignore our heritage as people of God. Our history is filled with monuments that remind us that the church is not about us, but about God and His mighty works of salvation.

Years ago heaps of stones were placed in key locations throughout the land of Canaan as monuments of God’s deeds. These stones were teaching tools for parents as they passed on to the following generation the mighty works of the Lord. The book of Joshua mentions six such monuments. The first is a pile of twelve stones taken out of the river Jordan and erected in Gilgal (Joshua 4:20); the second is the heap of rubble of the city walls of Jericho (6:26); the third is the pile of stones covering Achan (7:26); the fourth is the great mound of stones that were placed over the king of Ai (8:29); the fifth is the stones of the altar that was erected at Mount Ebal (8:30–35); and the sixth is the stone that was set up as a witness in Shechem at the close of Joshua’s ministry (24:26–28).

We place historical plaques and markers at points of interest to raise public awareness of important events of the past. The six heaps of stones mentioned in Joshua are more than lifeless monuments—they proclaim a message of God’s saving deeds. They remind us to pay attention to God’s unseen footprints. As we read these stories, let’s listen carefully to the stones that speak. They have a great message for our modern culture.

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