Ever have that nightmare where you show up for class and are handed a test that you knew nothing about, so you are completely unprepared? Yeah, me too. Sorry if you have it tonight now. That nightmare is supposed to reveal anxiety in our lives—that we are afraid of forgetting a deadline or something like that. For me, this is a regular concern. When you work in publishing with tons of deadlines that impact other projects, you learn to keep a very accurate calendar and to always triple check it. Without my calendar, I would be a mess. My mind simply could not handle remembering all the deadlines I need to keep track of. While some of us might have better memories than others (mine for one seems to be slipping as I get older), none of us have perfect memories—especially when it comes to remembering what God has done.  Consider what James 1:17 tells us:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17 CSB)

Don’t read past that first word too quickly. Every. All of them. Whatever is good in your life (and by the way, sometimes we define that incorrectly—sometimes suffering is good) comes from God. So go ahead and try to inventory all the good God gave you last week. I guarantee you will have forgotten so much good already. And I will have as well. And when we do, we follow in a long line of God’s people.

God Went Before His People

This week we lean in to see the Israelites cross the Jordan River to begin the conquest of the Promised Land. What will likely capture the attention of most of our kids—understandably so—is how God parted the Jordan, reminiscent of the parting of the Red Sea. It’s another impressive miracle (as if any are not impressive), that shows God’s power to a people who needed to be reminded of it. But let’s not miss how God chose to part the Jordan. He had the priests carry the ark, the symbol of His presence, into the waters. And as soon as their feet touched the river, the waters stopped and they stood in the middle of the dry riverbed as the people crossed. God could have performed this miracle in a number of ways, but He chose this one. Why? Because He wanted to paint a vivid picture for His people: that they were not entering the Promised Land alone; God was with them—and in fact, going before them. They did not have anything to fear, not because of who they were, but because of whose they were.

Stones of Remembrance

After the people crossed, God instructed Joshua to collect stones and build an altar by the river to help the people remember what God had done. You see, God knows that we are a forgetful people, so there are times when we need to memorialize who He is and what He has done in tangible ways. We need these reminders of God’s goodness, lest we forget. And prone to forget we are. How about you? How has God gone before you? And what have you done to commemorate those times? If you have not, why not do something now? Life is full of difficulties as you know. And again, we tend to be a forgetful and even doubtful people at times. The same God who called on Israel to build an altar to remember invites you to do the same. So go construct some altars this week, whether they be physical reminders, words on paper, photos, or artistic expressions of some sort. Create something that you can return to over and over, in rough times and the good, to remember who God is and what He has done. Lest you forget.

Memory is the mother of traditions. Almost all of our special days are celebrated because they remind us of something significant in the past … Our celebrations are occasions to look back and remember what God has done in the world and in our lives.” – Noël Piper [1]

Preschool Tip: If you have younger preschoolers, the concept of the ark representing God’s presence will be challenging for them. Focus instead on the more concrete aspects of this story—that God guided His people to the land He was giving them and that He was with them. Kids Tip: We will see the ark again down the road—when the Israelites lost in battle in David’s day and lost the ark. The problem, as we will see, was that the Israelites mistook the presence of God with the symbol of His presence—the ark. They had come to see the ark as a sort of good luck charm. This session will help provide the groundwork for that one when you get to it—so try to be sure to explain why it was significant that the ark went before the people. But be clear to explain that God’s presence was only symbolic in the ark. [1] Noël Piper, Treasuring God in our Traditions (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2003), 64. https://vimeo.com/album/5635208/video/307184038