What Do These Stones Mean?

 I knew a man in Iowa who built a stone retaining wall in his backyard.  His wall had gray stones, silver stones, brown field stones, and blocks of pink granite.  It took him about 8 years to build the wall that would keep the dirt in place and be a nice backdrop for a flower garden.

But he didn’t have any big stones.  He thought a farmer would have tons of rocks.  When they find a big stone out in the field, they toss it in a pile.  He thought he’d get some stones from a farmer he knew.  But when he called the farmer, he was told, “This is Iowa.  There are no rocks in Iowa.  If you want rocks you have to go someplace else.”

So he collected rocks for 8 years.  Whenever his family took a vacation, they bring back a rock.  His wall had rocks from Michigan, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota.  Coming back from a fishing trip in Canada, the customs officer looked in his trunk and said, “What’s this?”  The man said, “a stone.”  The officer said, “Don’t you have any stones in Iowa?”  “No.”

Memorial Day is a good time to stack stones.  After the children of Israel crossed the Jordan River, Joshua ordered 12 strong men to stack 12 large stones on the shore as a monument.  “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.”  (Joshua 4: 6-7)

Are there stones in your life?  Are there monuments to which a child can point sand say, “What do these stones mean?”

            -“Why do we always pray before supper, Mom?”

            -“Why do we always go to church?”

            -“How come we read the Bible?”

            -“Why do you put money in the offering plate at church?”

Joshua built the memorial not for the people who crossed the Jordan that day, but for their children.  Your children (and grandchildren) are looking at you, looking for memorial stones, looking for a God who lives and reigns in your life.  Your children are on a spiritual journey.  You must provide the markers and milestones along the way.  If you don’t give your children stones, who will?  Children today need stones.