JOSHUA 4

My father-in-law is always taking pictures. I think he may have been born with a camera stitched into his hand. Whenever and wherever a few of us are gathered together, you can always count on the camera coming out for a few rounds of pictures. My husband’s life is, quite possibly, the most photo-documented life on the face of the planet. No occasion is too small for a photo.

There’s something nice about that.

Why do we take photos, anyway? It’s because we want to remember, isn’t it? And also because we want to share with others. Most grandmas keep an album of photos in their purse (or, these days, on their phones) so they may, at a moment's notice, accost anyone and everyone with pictures of their adorable grandchildren.

God also has a brag book because He wants to remember and share. Unfortunately, in the days of Israel, there was no such thing as a digital camera or a one-hour photo center. So, what was God to do? He set up a living picture instead: "Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, 'Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. 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?" tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.'" (vs 4-7)

God is really into remembering. He remembers, and He wants us to remember also. I think there’s something nice about that. The more we remember that He has never let us down in the past, the more we can trust Him for whatever comes up in the future. I don’t know about you, but as soon as the storms of life hit, I tend to lose my memory. I need to take more time to remember. Hey, God! How ’bout a look at that brag book?