You Are A Living Monument To God

What is your first thought when you think back to school and having to take History?

Did you enjoy learning about the history of your country and the people back then? Or did you dread it and feel that history was nothing more than dates and dead people?

Did you feel like it had no meaning or relevance to your life today?

Have you taken the time to understand why a memorial or monument was built; and the significance it had for being built?

What if I told you that God has a purpose for memorials and monuments in our lives?

So thinking back as a kid, I remember going to Washington D.C. and seeing the different monuments honoring leaders or memorials to remember those that gave their lives in the Vietnam and Korean War. For me, seeing those images or names felt like such an honor to know that so many gave their lives for our freedom.

Then we went to see several battle grounds of the Civil War such as Gettysburg. That feeling I had when I walked along the fields and saw the monuments honoring the men that gave their lives on both sides of the war. 

But as a Christian, what do monuments and memorials have to do with our salvation?

Many people in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, would build an altar, monument or memorial to remind them of what God did for them or reveal Himself to them in a mighty and miraculous way.

In Joshua chapter 4, we see that God placed Joshua to lead the children of Israel after Moses. They are about to cross the Jordan River when the Lord gives Joshua a command about what they should do once they cross. 

Before Joshua, God had given Moses instructions about what should be done during the first Passover. In Exodus chapter 12 God tells Moses that this day will be a memorial and that when the children ask why we do this, to remind them of what God did as He passed over the houses of the Israelites while they were in Egypt.

Then in chapter 13, God tells Moses what to say to the future generations when they ask why they redeemed the first born lamb as a sacrifice, which again was a reminder of the Passover and being brought out of Egypt.

Finally in Deuteronomy, God tells Moses on again to remind the children of Israel and the future generations of how God delivered them from the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

Then in 1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 12 it tells of Samuel setting a large stone and calling it “Ebenezer” to remind the Israelites of the great difficulty they had with the Philistines, but that God had rescued them. This was to be a reminder of a critical turning point in their past and that God had helped them through it to the present time. 

Memorials can help you and me remember God’s past victories in our past and help us gain confidence and strength for the future.

Even the Pilgrims had a memorial that they did when celebrating surviving those first couple of harsh winters. They would take 5 kernels of corn before they ate as a memorial to remind them of the times that it was difficult and the food supply was low and that all they had as rations were 5 kernels of corn to eat each day. Once through those hard times and now having  a bountiful crop and meat they wanted to remind the future generations of the sacrifice they made.

That is what God has for us. He wants us to remember at times where we have come from. That is where our testimony comes from. It isn’t to dwell on the past faults, failures, struggles and sins; but to remind us of what God brought us out of to call us His Children. 

The truth is that YOU are that monument.

Song:
Chaxti/Eighties Kid/courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com