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6 so
that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time
to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you
shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in
front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over
the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these
stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever.”
So, let this Memorial Day be not
just another holiday, but when we think of the men and women who
laid down their lives for this country, let us do it with
hope that in Christ an amazing future awaits them and us.
We should not forget that as Christians, along with being a
citizen of this world, we also hold the citizenship of another
world (Phil 3:20).We are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ who
being God became man, humbled himself and gave himself as a
ransom for all humankind (1 Tim2:6). The Lord's supper is a
hopeful memorial. It reminds us of the sacrificial love of God
through which we can inherit eternal life.
As Christians we are responsible in the family to teach and
remind our children the wonderful works of God. Every record of
what God has done in generations past, is a promise of what He
will do again in our lives because God is the same yesterday,
today and tomorrow. The testimonies of God are what connect each
succeeding generation of believers to His promises. We should
also teach our children about our Mar Thoma church and its
doctrines. How the past and present leaders of our Mar Thoma
church stood strong in faith and conviction so that the church
would come into being and be a blessing to us. Remind our
children that this is the church where our forefathers worshipped
the Lord.
Loss of memory is a sad state. It rips us of our past
experiences, our personal history and leaves us blank. Sometimes
we are forgetful because of neglect. We are inattentive to things
around us and also take for granted all the blessing we receive
from God. Failure to remember the works and blessings of God is a
spiritual failure. It erodes the foundation of faith and our
relationship with God. Reading through the Bible makes it
apparent that a great deal of importance is placed on
remembrance. Forgetting the benefits of God is thanklessness, and
we will forgo the blessings from God.
The context of this passage is a divine command to Joshua to
prepare a monument with stones from the midst of Jordan. These
stones were a memorial to remind the people of Israel and their
future generations that the waters of Jordan were cut off before
the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the people crossed safely
to the Promised Land.
Memorial Day is a day when all Americans join together to
remember the sacrifices of those who responded to their nation’s
call. The freedoms that Americans enjoy did not come cheaply. They
were paid for with the lives of American servicemen and women.
Sometimes, there is a failure to recognize the deeds of the men
and women who fought for our freedom. Memorial Day is a day of
opportunity to give thanks for all that we are blessed with.
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