1 00:00:02,690 --> 00:00:13,770 Speaker 1: Life Audio Thank you for listening to your daily Bible verse. 2 00:00:14,650 --> 00:00:18,130 Speaker 1: The podcast that examines one verse each day to learn 3 00:00:18,150 --> 00:00:20,980 Speaker 1: more about God and His will for our lives. I'm 4 00:00:21,020 --> 00:00:27,060 Speaker 1: your host, Kyle Worman. Today, we're continuing our series titled, 5 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: Trusting God One Step at a Time. with a discussion 6 00:00:32,100 --> 00:00:46,550 Speaker 1: of today's verse from Joshua chapter 4. Today's verse can 7 00:00:46,590 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: be found in Joshua chapter 4, verses 21 and 22. 8 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,020 Speaker 1: When your children ask their parents in time to come, 9 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 1: what do these stones mean? Then you shall let your 10 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,700 Speaker 1: children know. Israel crossed over the Jordan on dry ground. 11 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: My wife and I recently took a trip to the 12 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:11,060 Speaker 1: Mexican Riviera. Like many tourists, we wanted to visit the 13 00:01:11,110 --> 00:01:16,610 Speaker 1: ruins in Tulu. These large stone structures are impressive, attracting 14 00:01:16,950 --> 00:01:21,330 Speaker 1: thousands of people every year. But more than just providing 15 00:01:21,370 --> 00:01:27,170 Speaker 1: a beautiful backdrop for vacation pictures, these stone structures tell 16 00:01:27,230 --> 00:01:33,150 Speaker 1: a story. It's a story of people and events. In 17 00:01:33,209 --> 00:01:37,589 Speaker 1: Joshua chapter 4, we read about Israel crossing the Jordan 18 00:01:37,750 --> 00:01:42,369 Speaker 1: and finally stepping into promised land. And as the people 19 00:01:42,430 --> 00:01:45,690 Speaker 1: make their way through the river, with waters pushed back 20 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:50,140 Speaker 1: on each side, Joshua instructs that the Levitical priests are 21 00:01:50,180 --> 00:01:53,420 Speaker 1: to gather twelve large stones from the center of the river, 22 00:01:54,100 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: one for every tribe at Israel. These stones are then 23 00:01:58,410 --> 00:02:03,090 Speaker 1: erected as a testimony to the salvation event that Israel 24 00:02:03,130 --> 00:02:07,250 Speaker 1: had just participated in. The stones, they told a story. 25 00:02:08,410 --> 00:02:11,730 Speaker 1: And that story was one of God's mercies for God's people, 26 00:02:12,250 --> 00:02:16,510 Speaker 1: God's power for them, and God's ultimate redemption displayed in 27 00:02:16,550 --> 00:02:22,250 Speaker 1: their midst. Because after 40 years of wandering, 40 years 28 00:02:22,310 --> 00:02:27,770 Speaker 1: of questions, struggles, and doubts, those stones bore witness to 29 00:02:27,830 --> 00:02:34,590 Speaker 1: an undisputable fact. God was faithful. So whenever someone looked 30 00:02:34,630 --> 00:02:38,140 Speaker 1: back to those stones, they could remember the day they 31 00:02:38,260 --> 00:02:43,340 Speaker 1: realized God's promised redemption. Those twelve stones, standing tall on 32 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: the horizon, they bore witness to God's faithfulness and love. Now, importantly, 33 00:02:50,260 --> 00:02:54,650 Speaker 1: those standing stones, as they came to be called, They 34 00:02:54,660 --> 00:02:58,929 Speaker 1: weren't just contemporary expressions of wonder and worship for those 35 00:02:58,970 --> 00:03:03,990 Speaker 1: who crossed the river. They were also testimonies to future generations. 36 00:03:04,010 --> 00:03:09,350 Speaker 1: Because God knew that as generations came and went, the 37 00:03:09,410 --> 00:03:13,290 Speaker 1: story of Israel's redemption from Egypt could easily become lost. 38 00:03:14,290 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: Future generations might become so comfortable with how things were 39 00:03:18,700 --> 00:03:22,700 Speaker 1: that they would forget the story of their redemption. Or, 40 00:03:23,100 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: they might succumb to a lie that said that their 41 00:03:25,660 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: salvation was based on their own efforts, their own power, 42 00:03:29,980 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: and their own strategies. And so setting up these stones, then, 43 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:39,390 Speaker 1: was a way to prompt further questions. In days to come, 44 00:03:39,910 --> 00:03:43,470 Speaker 1: when children ask their parents what do these stones mean, 45 00:03:44,390 --> 00:03:47,770 Speaker 1: obviously indicating that they had forgotten the basic story of 46 00:03:47,810 --> 00:03:51,970 Speaker 1: their own identities, these parents or grandparents could point to 47 00:03:52,010 --> 00:03:55,510 Speaker 1: those stones and say, let me tell you about what 48 00:03:55,550 --> 00:03:59,290 Speaker 1: God has done here. This is where we crossed over 49 00:03:59,340 --> 00:04:03,460 Speaker 1: the Jordan on dry ground. But these stones, they didn't 50 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,140 Speaker 1: just point to the past. They weren't just creative ways 51 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:12,020 Speaker 1: to ensure that Israel remembered their history. Those standing stones, 52 00:04:12,340 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: they also pointed to the future, to God's unfolding faithfulness. 53 00:04:18,260 --> 00:04:21,820 Speaker 1: Because God was faithful to Israel in the past, leading 54 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,740 Speaker 1: them through battles and fires and waters, so too God 55 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,370 Speaker 1: would be faithful in the future. And so whenever people 56 00:04:29,470 --> 00:04:34,130 Speaker 1: faced a battle or feared themselves ill-equipped to handle what 57 00:04:34,170 --> 00:04:37,550 Speaker 1: lied before them, they could look at those stones and 58 00:04:37,630 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: remember the miracle displayed in their midst. They could look 59 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: at those stones and remember God is faithful. And that 60 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,470 Speaker 1: was important because even in the Promised Land, Israel would 61 00:04:50,510 --> 00:04:54,490 Speaker 1: have to face some battles. Standing on the soil of 62 00:04:54,529 --> 00:04:57,890 Speaker 1: the Promised Land didn't make the struggles of life go away. 63 00:04:58,790 --> 00:05:01,460 Speaker 1: They still needed to rely on God's power and grace, 64 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: and the people still needed to trust that the God 65 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: who led them through waters would lead them through whatever 66 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,669 Speaker 1: they faced. And those erected stones spoke of the need 67 00:05:13,010 --> 00:05:15,830 Speaker 1: to trust that the Lord was still in charge of 68 00:05:15,890 --> 00:05:19,180 Speaker 1: the journey and that the God of liberation could be 69 00:05:19,270 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: trusted for future battles just as much as God was 70 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:27,159 Speaker 1: trusted for the battles in the past. Even if all 71 00:05:27,300 --> 00:05:30,479 Speaker 1: Israel could manage was a journey of faith but one 72 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: step at a time, well, they were still walking in 73 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:39,040 Speaker 1: the presence of the Lord. Now, you might ask yourself, 74 00:05:40,220 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: What does this have to do with me? Are we 75 00:05:43,180 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: called to erect stones on a nearby riverbank? Well, no. 76 00:05:49,300 --> 00:05:55,789 Speaker 1: Because we are the stones. Many centuries later, Peter takes 77 00:05:55,890 --> 00:05:59,250 Speaker 1: up this image of stones erected beside the Jordan, and 78 00:05:59,290 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 1: he uses it to describe the Christian life. In 1 79 00:06:02,830 --> 00:06:08,330 Speaker 1: Peter 2, Peter writes, like living stones, let yourself be 80 00:06:08,410 --> 00:06:12,150 Speaker 1: built into a spiritual house. Peter takes the image of 81 00:06:12,250 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: stones that bear witness to God's presence and redemptive power, 82 00:06:17,070 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: first seen on the banks of the Jordan and then 83 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,419 Speaker 1: expressed in the large stones at the temple, and he 84 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: says that as followers of Jesus, we fulfill that same function. 85 00:06:28,700 --> 00:06:32,450 Speaker 1: We point to the story of redemption, the grand thing 86 00:06:32,510 --> 00:06:35,280 Speaker 1: that God has done through Jesus Christ to redeem the 87 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,260 Speaker 1: people that God so dearly loves. We bear witness to 88 00:06:39,300 --> 00:06:42,820 Speaker 1: God's faithfulness in the past, and we point to God's 89 00:06:42,860 --> 00:06:46,470 Speaker 1: faithfulness in the future. And if there is ever a 90 00:06:46,529 --> 00:06:52,150 Speaker 1: time when someone comes to us asking about salvation, we 91 00:06:52,210 --> 00:06:55,850 Speaker 1: are to point to our own lives, saying, let me 92 00:06:55,910 --> 00:07:00,890 Speaker 1: tell you about what God has done here. So ask yourself, 93 00:07:02,170 --> 00:07:06,730 Speaker 1: Where has God proved faithful in your past? Where are 94 00:07:06,770 --> 00:07:10,060 Speaker 1: you needing to rely on God's faithfulness for the future? 95 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: And like a living stone, to whom can you tell 96 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,190 Speaker 1: the story of God's faithfulness?