“Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you… that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, “What do those stones mean to you?” then you shall tell them the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant before the Lord. So these stones shall forever be a memorial to the people.”
-Joshua 4: 2-7
As created beings with sinful nature, it is so easy for us to forget the goodness of God. We stumble over the very first obstacles in our paths. When life presses on us from all sides, our first response is often anger towards God, or drifting away from Him as we try to handle situations with our own futile strength and understanding.
Why did the Lord have the nation of Isreal set up 12 stones as an altar? To remind the people of the Lord’s faithfulness.
What was the point of them creating a memorial? For the next generations to look back and see what He has done. So that, in times of confusion or questioning, there was something to point back to, and the people could say to themselves, “No, the Lord has been faithful in the past. The Lord keeps His covenant with His people. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever.”
This blog, if you will, is my version of setting up altars in the wilderness made up of a collection of papers – my paper altars. To remind myself, and any readers that may come across this blog, of the goodness of God even if life presses in on all sides.
Paper Altars 