A new year invites both looking forward and looking back.
The possibilities of a fresh start are exciting.
But without remembering the good and significant things we have passed through, we miss opportunities for understanding and gratitude as we move forward.
The ancient Israelites would often use stone memorials or monuments as markers of remembrance.
When they passed over the Jordan River, the Lord commanded each tribe to bring a stone out of the ground normally covered in water to serve as a reminder of the miracle they had lived (Joshua 4:3-8). 12 stones as a testimony to those who came after them of their witness of the goodness and power of God in their lives.
Joshua used a stone as a sign of the covenant the children of Israel made to follow God when they came into their promised land (Joshua 24:26).
Samuel used a stone he called Eben-ezer, or stone of help or remembrance, to commemorate the Lord’s miraculous intervention for Israel against the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:12).
Stone because it is unmoving and firm, lasting and permanent.
Strong enough to stay even when we would forget.
What would our own eben-ezers look like?
A stone of remembrance for the miracle of life given and life saved this year.
A stone of remembrance of the joy of graduations, of engagements and weddings-progress and promise.
A stone of remembrance for covenant connection offered and accepted.
A stone of remembrance for the prayers answered, guidance received, hope and encouragement provided.
A stone for peace in troubled times, a stone for strength to continue, a stone for gifts of grace to change and grow, a stone for love poured out and filled up.
Our markers of remembrance of the goodness and power of God.
So we don’t forget who He is and what He does.
As we look forward, I want to add to my stones of remembrance.
A mountain of witnesses of God in our lives.
Eben-ezer.
