4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 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.”
After the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River, they were ready to conquer the Promised Land. But first, God had them do something. God directed them to build a memorial from 12 stones drawn from the river. Does this seem like a waste of time? No, it was not. God was preparing them. What should their focus be? They were to focus on God. They were to remember who was guiding them. We are busy today. As you are busy doing your day to day activities, do you set aside some quiet time to build a memorial to God’s power? What has God done for you that you need to remember so that your focus is on him. Remember who is guiding you because too much activity may shift your focus away from God.
