Memories
Pictures are often used as a memorial to me to capture some of my most favorite events. Those beautiful summer days up north at the cottage spent at the beach, amazing camping trips, incredible displays of the Aurora Borealis, meteor showers; all are things that seem to take an important place in my memory. Often pictures can capture that event, or even emotion, forever. However memorials go far beyond a great vacation:
Many times in Scripture the Lord's people set up memorials, not just to capture the moment for themselves, but to pass along a memory to future generations. We most certainly do have memorials in this country, national memorials even. Some honor an individual, some a group of people, and some a historical event. Yet it is not just a country that should be making memorials, but rather followers of Christ as well.
For me, this journal is helping me do that. It is something that I wish to pass along to my children (in printed form) so that some of these moments that God has blessed me with can be shared with another generation. While we have to be careful not to get legalistic about our behaviors, that shouldn't stop our devotion and worship to Him. If God has done a miraculous work in our life, or if we sense the need to do so, I encourage you (and myself) to make a memorial. Perhaps it's something as simple as grabbing that stone from the river where you met Christ for the first time, or perhaps it's planting a tree to remember your walk in the woods when you broke down in pieces and He met you to put you back together again. Whatever it may be, I hope we all can learn to be a people of memorial.
Think about it. I am.
Remembering,
~Matthew
And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 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 that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” (Joshua 4:5-7 ESV)
Many times in Scripture the Lord's people set up memorials, not just to capture the moment for themselves, but to pass along a memory to future generations. We most certainly do have memorials in this country, national memorials even. Some honor an individual, some a group of people, and some a historical event. Yet it is not just a country that should be making memorials, but rather followers of Christ as well.
For me, this journal is helping me do that. It is something that I wish to pass along to my children (in printed form) so that some of these moments that God has blessed me with can be shared with another generation. While we have to be careful not to get legalistic about our behaviors, that shouldn't stop our devotion and worship to Him. If God has done a miraculous work in our life, or if we sense the need to do so, I encourage you (and myself) to make a memorial. Perhaps it's something as simple as grabbing that stone from the river where you met Christ for the first time, or perhaps it's planting a tree to remember your walk in the woods when you broke down in pieces and He met you to put you back together again. Whatever it may be, I hope we all can learn to be a people of memorial.
Think about it. I am.
Remembering,
~Matthew
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