Boulders

Joshua 4: 1-9 (NLT)

1 When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”

4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then 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.”

8 So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there.

9 Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day.

As I was driving to church this morning I was reflecting back on the Marriage Retreat that my wife and I had attended this past Friday and Saturday. Steve and Debbie Wilson came and was a complete blessing. They had a powerful message from God, and you could see God all over them. It was evident. I cannot describe the power that was there, but it was heart felt, and again, a complete blessing.

They were selling t-shirts and books and CD's and Brandy wanted a shirt. But she didn't want one unless I got one too. We had just officially started our Dave Ramsey baby steps yesterday and filled our envelopes. We both knew that if we bought a t-shirt we would have to use our own blow money. I am giddy with my blow money envelope cause, well, I am saving for hiking gear, and that stuff ain't cheap, so I gotta save a lot. I must say though that I did take interest in one particular t-shirt....

The conference went through Friday night. Of course it was a blessing. Just the introduction had me teared up, and at our first break I walked up to Steve & Debbie with tears in my eyes and hugged Steve. I then told them my story of how God spoke to me through Bro. Hight telling me that I was to marry Brandy. They spoke of how God loves me, no matter what, even through divorce, He still loves me. See, I've heard this many many times, I knew this, I mean, c'mon, it's what God does, He loves. But Satan had a curtain pulled over this part of me, and I honestly didn't even know it was there. However when God spoke to me through Steve & Debbie, He not only showed me the curtain that was masking my pain, but he ripped it right in half, and I could feel the presence of God come into this part of me that I didn't even know I had, let alone needed him to come in and heal.

I still did not buy a t-shirt, but I thought about it.

The next morning, I had half decided that I was going to buy one, you know cause Brandy wanted one.... We went in and sat through the retreat, socialized during the breaks, ate through the lunch, and still did not have one after our last break. The conference ended. I knew that I had to get the t-shirt. Because I liked it, because I knew Brandy would get one and be happy if I did, but also because something else... I got the t-shirt.

We got the kids and went home. We went about our day as normal. Of course we had a little pep in our step, we had been to church! And it was good! We felt it in our bones, and we are in love! Crazy in love.....that's what our shirts say....

So on the way to church this morning I was thinking about this. And I thought about the boulders that the Israelites carried, and how they made 2 separate monuments out of them. They made 2. One was built at their camp, where they would always be able to see it. It is in the open and they can physically look at it any time they choose. It's right there. But what about the one covered up in the river? I have wondered why would they do that? They couldn't see it, so what good was it for? What purpose did it serve?

Then it hit me. It was a beginning point. It was the mark that they made that was their signature, their promise to God that He would be their God. That they would love Him. That He would be the groom and they would be the bride, till death do us part.

This is the same thing that Brandy and I did at our marriage ceremony. We made vows, to each other and to God. And we marked it with 2 boulders. The first boulder is the ceremony. We walked down the aisle and with our mouths we set a boulder. Except the river didn't cover it to hide it from us. Time did. Even now, 2 weeks and 1 day later, it is covered. I have the memories of that day, but I cannot see them with my physical eyes. However we also had another boulder that we can see with our eyes every day, just as the Israelites did, our rings. Our rings aren't just a promise to each other but it is a symbol of the covenant that we made with God as well. Our rings are there to mark us and to remind us.

The t-shirt serves as the boulder that I can see everyday, as reminder of another covenant. The retreat was the boulders in the river, again covered by time. The shirt is something that I will remember every time that I see it of how God opened a place inside of me, and ripped the curtain in half. The shirt is for me to remember...this is why I needed the shirt.

To take this one step farther, I understood something about baptism today as well, which was the topic of pastors message today. There are two boulders here. One to mark the time but is left behind and one that is carried everyday to remind us of the covenant made with baptism. The first boulder is the act of baptism and is left in the water, so it is covered in water. The second boulder that is carried around as a reminder is the new life in Jesus.