Dodger: Hi! I'm glad you're here! Did you enjoy your week, and Thanksgiving Day? I had an excellent time. Lilly did too, I think.
Lilly: Oh yes. We went to my grandmother's house. She lives in another state, and we had to drive for a really long time. I took a few pictures though while I was riding in the car. Would you like to see them?
Dodger: That would be fun. Go ahead and show them to us.
Lilly: Alright. This one is of a church we passed:
And this one is of a different church we passed:
This one is of another church we passed:
And this is one that I didn't really understand, since my grandmother doesn't live in Australia. Then again, there was that wrong turn we took...
I always like to take pictures of signs, since they all say something, and usually they help us get where we're going, or sometimes make us laugh. There's one more sign which isn't so interesting, but which I think is really important. Here it is:
This sign is called a milepost, and it happens to be one of my favorite kinds of signs.
Dodger: Why's that, Lilly?
Lilly: Because it reminds me of a Bible story. Dodger, can you please turn to the book of Joshua, chapter 3, and start reading from verse 7?
Dodger: Sure I can. Let's see...here it is. "And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’” So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.” So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan." (Joshua 3:7-17 NKJV)
Lilly: Well, look at 4:4-7. "Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7, boldface added) The children of Israel were setting up memorials designed to help them remember where they had been and what God had done for them. This way, they would remember God's faithfulness, and be reminded to serve Him and trust Him, and never give up their hope in Him. The Israelites where setting up mileposts so that they could forever remember where God had brought them.
Sign Maker- http://www.r3blog.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/church-sign01.jpg Pirate Church Sign- http://www.edstetzer.com/pirate-day-sign.jpeg
Lilly: Oh yes. We went to my grandmother's house. She lives in another state, and we had to drive for a really long time. I took a few pictures though while I was riding in the car. Would you like to see them?
Dodger: That would be fun. Go ahead and show them to us.
Lilly: Alright. This one is of a church we passed:
And this one is of a different church we passed:
This one is of another church we passed:
And this is one that I didn't really understand, since my grandmother doesn't live in Australia. Then again, there was that wrong turn we took...
I always like to take pictures of signs, since they all say something, and usually they help us get where we're going, or sometimes make us laugh. There's one more sign which isn't so interesting, but which I think is really important. Here it is:
This sign is called a milepost, and it happens to be one of my favorite kinds of signs.
Dodger: Why's that, Lilly?
Lilly: Because it reminds me of a Bible story. Dodger, can you please turn to the book of Joshua, chapter 3, and start reading from verse 7?
Dodger: Sure I can. Let's see...here it is. "And the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’” So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.” And Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites: Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and they shall stand as a heap.” So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan." (Joshua 3:7-17 NKJV)
Lilly: That's a pretty amazing feat, wouldn't you say? I wish I could make the lake separate to let me pass whenever I wanted. But did you notice how God told Joshua that He would prove to Israel that He was with him? Joshua was taking over as leader of the nation after Moses died, and so God was showing Israel that He was with Joshua.
Dodger: That's really impressive, Lilly, but what does it have to do with mileposts?
Lilly: I'll tell you, by reading into Joshua chapter 4. "And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe, and command them, saying, ‘Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan, as the Lord had spoken to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day. (Joshua 4:1-9 NKJV)
Dodger: What were the rocks for?
Lilly: That's exactly what I want to talk about. Dodger, do you know what a milepost is for?
Dodger: Yeah, it's to help tell you how many miles you've traveled, in other words, how far you've gone. This helps you remember where you are, and not get lost.
Lilly: Exactly. That's what the rocks were for.
Dodger: They were mileposts?
Lilly: Yes.
Dodger: What do you mean?
Lilly: Well, look at 4:4-7. "Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: “Cross over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7, boldface added) The children of Israel were setting up memorials designed to help them remember where they had been and what God had done for them. This way, they would remember God's faithfulness, and be reminded to serve Him and trust Him, and never give up their hope in Him. The Israelites where setting up mileposts so that they could forever remember where God had brought them.
Dodger: But wouldn't it be easy to remember going through a river on dry ground?
Lilly: For them it probably would be. But what about their children and grandchildren? Eventually the people would forget if God did not use something like a memorial to remind them. Besides, it's still actually easy to forget things even as amazing as that. God didn't want them to ever forget.
Dodger: Now I get it. But what does it have to do with us?
Lilly: As Christians, we need to set up mileposts for ourselves.
Dodger: What? How do we do that? In fact, when do we do that?
Lilly: Anytime God does something for us that we should remember.
Dodger: I see. So if God does something special like answering a prayer for a loved one, I should make that into a milepost?
Lilly: That's one good example. Another might be when He heals you of something or gets you out of a bad place, or delivers you from sin. There are all sorts of things we should milepost, big and small.
Dodger: So how do we do it? Do we have to set up a pile of rocks?
Lilly: No. We can write it down, or store it in our permanent memory, or tell others about it, or even blog about it! There are all sorts of ways to do it, and we can do more than one if we want to. As long as we keep milepost making, we'll reap the same benefits the Israelites got from it. Our mileposts give us a piece of comfort when we're discouraged, remind us of God's faithfulness when we're afraid, and strengthen us when we're tiring. They even help remind us of how far we've come with God's help.
Dodger: Now I see what you mean. That's really neat, Lilly. I'm going to start signposting from now on.
Lilly: That's a great idea. I'm going to do it too.
Wow, look at how time flies! Looks like we better get going, Lilly. We still have to decorate your house for Christmas. Thanks for coming and hanging out with us today! We're always happy that you can make it. Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's not about to change!
Lilly: זייַ געזונט!
Discussion Question:
(These are for the fun of it, if you want to hang out with Dodger and Lilly in a group, or simply answer a question based on what they've been talking about by yourself.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Has God ever done something for you that changed your life or was really important to you? What was it? Why was it special to you?
(NKJV means New King James Version)
The above pictures come from the following webpages, none of which are maintained or necessarily recommended by I-Bulldog Studios:
What Could We Say- http://www.friendburst.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/funny-church-signs-063.jpg Sign Maker- http://www.r3blog.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/church-sign01.jpg Pirate Church Sign- http://www.edstetzer.com/pirate-day-sign.jpeg
Kangaroo Crossing- http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000BVj5H55kWJ4/s/898/650/Kangaroo-crossing-sign-on-North-Stradbroke-Island-Australia-with-Car-on-Road-Photo-k002044804.jpg
Milepost- http://www.arizonaroads.com/pics/az989milepost.jpg
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