Gratitude: Day 5

Devotion by: Tracey Maxwell

Joshua 4:4-7

Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. Joshua said to them, ‘Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, “What do those stones mean to you?” 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 for ever.’

In Joshua Chapter 4, the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan river. God then directed Joshua to build a memorial with 12 stones, one for each of the 12 tribes. In 4:4-7 Joshua instructs the members to do this with stones from the Jordan. According to my Application Study Bible this was to have the members of the tribes focus on God and remember that it was He who was guiding them. We need to remember to take the time to stop when we are on the move in our busy lives and build our own memorials thanking God for leading us each day.

Well, today is my goddaughter Charlotte Carbaugh’s second birthday and the theme I was given for my devotional along with Joshua 4 is that of gratitude. A more perfect theme could not have been given to me as I am so grateful and full of joy that little Charlotte is turning two. Happy and healthy along with her mom, Lauren.

Sometimes I wonder how it is that Lauren and I were raised in the same Catholic Church 5 hours north of Great Falls; both married “Lutheran boys” and both moved to Northern Virginia and attend Christ the King. It wasn’t until two years ago that perhaps we found out the reason. Life has come full circle – Lauren’s dad is my godfather, my mom is Lauren’s godmother and now I am blessed to have Charlotte as my goddaughter. So as Joshua instructed the members of the tribe to do I need to constantly be building my memorial with gratitude. For God has certainly guided our families to this river!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank you for guiding our daily lives. Thank you for bringing us to the other side of the River. We offer you our gratitude and praise for preparing us. We thank you for health and happiness, joy and Love. Amen.