Don’t Forget – To Remember!
- Jul 4, 2025
- 5 min read
C.S. Lewis wrote, “Most people don’t need to be taught, they need only to be reminded.”
How do you go about remembering things? I have a friend that ties a knot in his handkerchief to remember! Perhaps you’re a ‘Post-it’ person? We have IT helps through Google or WhatsApp. How do you remember?
For those huge moments in life, you may have a place of retreat, or like us we have planted trees in a significant place to remember or ‘not to forget!’
More importantly, how do we remember God’s work in our life?
Joshua 4 is the story of how to remember a good and gracious God, or more to the point, we must never forget the goodness of our God.
Stacking stones is another way to remind oneself of a precious moment, hence the above picture. Stacking stones isn’t a new phenomena!
Twelve men, one from each tribe, picked up a rock from the Jordon as they were crossing over. The twelve rocks would be placed together at a place called Gilgal as a reminder of God’s work and power in their lives (see v8).
God establishes a place to remember, why? Because we forget. A great enemy of faith is our forgetfulness. How many of us need to be reminded of God’s grace and of the great miracles that He has done in our lives?
Max Lucado says, "No one is more solidly in our corner than God himself. He lifts us up, dusts us off, and cheers us on in the 'messy' race of life."
How did thousands of people cross the Jordon River in the spring time when the waters flooded the banks? Let the stones remind you!
What a story to tell! "Look, these 12 stones appear out of place here! Do you know where they came from? They got them from the river bed. God parted the waters and 2 million people walked through on dry ground. That’s what God can do." Amazing!
The miracle-working God did this so that they would find strength in the future as they remembered what God did in the past.
David knew: “Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!” (1 Chron 16:12,13).
Stones are used so much in the Scriptures.
In Genesis 28, Jacob used a stone to mark the spot where God appeared to him in a dream of the ladder leading to heaven. Later, he built an altar using this stone to worship God.
In Genesis 31, stones were used to mark a covenant between Jacob and Laban. The stones served as a witness to their agreement.
Stones were used as “a witness” to a covenant between people (Josh 24:27).
This chapter in the book of Joshua, reveals stones as a memorial to God’s faithfulness. A God that keeps His Promises is a reminder to the children of Israel not to forget!
Psalm 78:3-4: "What we have heard and learned—that which our ancestors have told us—we will not hide from their descendants. We will tell the next generation about the LORD’s praiseworthy acts, about His strength and the amazing things He has done."
We all have a story to tell! Don’t forget to tell of how great our God is!
It’s a timely reminder we are a part of the great salvation story of a God willing to go to any length to save us, even allowing His son to die on a cross for you and I. Our salvation is all God’s doing: “For it is by GRACE you have been saved – not by works (so that no-one can boast)” (Eph 2:8).
Yet for some reason, perhaps because of some terrible mistake or choices in life, you’ve begun thinking the power and the grace of God to forgive and give has been exhausted. No! We cannot sin beyond God’s grace to forgive and give.
One of God’s most frequent commands is “Remember.” We can recall how God has led us in the past, which should encourage us for the future.
One of the main purposes of biblical remembering is the reminder that the God who acted back then is the same God who acts now.
Sam Storm said, “Remembering is not designed to transport you back into the past but to prepare and equip and encourage you for the future!”
Joshua 4 marks a transition from the wilderness to the Promised Land; from a state of wandering to a place of settlement. It represents a new chapter in the Israelites relationship with God and their identity as a nation.
Today, there’s a call to REMEMBER God’s goodness to you, to embrace new beginnings, to remember God's faithfulness, and renew one's commitment to Him. How about it?
These stones should tell them -
They had finally crossed over on dry land from the wilderness, a place where their fathers had lived in unbelief for forty years, to the land of promise. Joshua is saying, because God overruled that impossible situation in the most amazing way they don’t have to live that way anymore. These stones are the reminder to you ‘to serve as a sign among you’ (v6).
The stones are not to be a temporary sign but a permanent reminder of God's power, His promises and presence. These stones would be a visible proclamation of God's faithfulness in the past and of a lasting testament to His commitment in the future. All of which should cause the children of Israel to live in a way that reflects their covenant with Him.
What reminders do you have today that testify to all that God is and has done, and as a consequence lead you to worship Him in Spirit and in truth?
J.B. Phillips says, “We have not only to be impressed by the “size” and unlimited power of God, we have to be moved to genuine admiration, respect, and affection, if we are ever to worship Him.”
Secondly, the stones are a sign to remember God! How often have we looked back at our past experiences and given ourselves too much credit instead of giving God all the glory. It’s a heart thing!
David Jackman writes that, “Our spiritual memories are very short, so that often in the busy flow of life we forget the spiritual realities on which we are grounded.”
The idea of remembering in the Hebrew context is more than a calling to mind. It must involve a time to reflect on who God is, followed by an active response of your heart to Him. You don’t simply remember and then forget, you remember and worship Him with thanksgiving and praise.
Pause and ponder
When did you last stop and really remember Him and truly give God thanks for His love and saving grace?
There is a far greater work of grace than the crossing of the Jordan River! Jesus gives this command to His disciples in Luke 22:19: “Do this in remembrance of me.” He was sharing with them the Lord’s Supper of broken bread and poured out wine as the sign of his atoning death. This would be the sign of the new covenant. We need to remember what is at the heart of our salvation and at what cost!
Paul would write, “The son of God… loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20).
What’s your up-to-date testimony of God’s amazing work in your life?
Have you told anyone lately?
Prayer
"Love has brought us here today. We love because God first loved us.
Help us, O Lord, never to nurse the grievance that separates us from you and from one another. Grant us grace to forgive those who have wronged us. May we know that no sin is so great that it cannot be confessed; no wound so deep it cannot be healed, and no sinner so lost that grace cannot bring them home" - William Booth.
This has really spoken to me this morning. To always remember to thank God for His saving grace, and remember His unfailing goodness and faithfulness. The question “how about it?”, renewing commitment to Him, absolutely and to remember.