I am a Rock.

Chapter 7 - The Story

Joshua!  How rich and full for one brief biography in the expanse of the Bible.  And the feelings his story evoke!  He is as memorable as he is quotable.

And yet, nestled in, is another theme engaging the entire nation of Israel.  Before committing him and his house, before outwitting and outlasting kings, before the terrible defeat at Ai, and before the mighty victory at Jericho, was another water-crossing.  A distant memory for the young nation whose previous descendants crossed the mighty Red Sea under Moses, this new generation would get to experience the storied miracle anew.  Yet there was no staff and bearded shepherd - this water crossing would follow the ark of the covenant, the ark of testimony of the wilderness.  They would be following the Spirit of God across the river.

They pick up their belongings.  The waters ebb away as the priests carrying the ark step into the clear water.  Dry land, dry ground.  A reminder that their miraculous God is still moving, still committed to the precious promise of a land dedicated for them.  "Follow me, I've got this, I still remember you and my word to you."  I wonder if Joshua felt gripped in his heart watching God perform the same miracle that He had performed for Joshua's mentor, Moses.  A reminder to Joshua too - "Be strong, be courageous, I'm with you too."  And they cross the river Jordan together, never to go back.

In my house, and on my desk, I keep little stones.  The one in my bathroom says, "I am not my own, I was bought with a price."  The one in my keepsake box from college is a reminder of God's peace.  If you enter my office, the stone there says, "Passion" - a reminder for ministry and direction.  Joshua asks each tribe to carry a large stone across the Jordan and set it up as a reminder.  Joshua 4 says, "In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

We all cross a Jordan in our life.  We can even cross multiple rivers.  Places where God asks us to trust Him deeply and not ever go back to our old ways of living or believing.  The temptation is so strong to cross back over, be safe, figure out a different route.  What stops us cold in our tracks can be the simple reminder of God's amazing goodness and the call to not go back.  A pile of rocks.

What's even more astounding, is Peter's reference to stones in 1 Peter 2.  We are invited to know the "living Stone" - Jesus - the rejected cornerstone.  And even better, Peter calls us living stones also, being built into a spiritual house.  We look to Jesus, our reminder that God's got this, he's with us.  When my children ask me about the Living Stone, I can tell them too how Jesus found me in my own Egypt, enslaved to sin.  I crossed over and He's my rock.

And to a watching world?  Well, I'm glad I can be a living stone too.  For a world that is wondering where is a God who loves and cares, a God who is real, I stand next to that great river on the side of promise saying, "Cross here too".  Why?  Because the cross lives there too.  I've crossed there through the power of a resurrected Jesus.  Simon and Garfunkle said it best...I am a rock.  I am a reminder of Jesus.

Eliza Cortés Bast