Shortly after his father’s unexpected death, Aaron gifted his mother with a framed, poster-sized photo of dozens of items that encapsulated his dad’s life—collectibles, photos, rocks, books, artwork, and more—each holding special meaning. Aaron spent days collecting the items and arranging them, and then his sister Rachel captured the arrangement in a photo. The gift was a visual tribute to their father, who despite his decades-long struggle with self-loathing and addiction, never left his love for them in doubt. It also attested to God’s love and miraculous healing power that led to their father’s victory over addiction in the last decade of his life.
When after forty long years God’s people crossed into the promised land, Joshua chose a man from each of the twelve tribes to gather a stone from the dry riverbed to “serve as a sign among [them]” (Joshua 4:1-6). Joshua used these rocks to create an altar and lasting tribute to God’s power and provision (vv. 19-24). The Israelites’ journey hadn’t been easy. But God had been with them, providing water out of rocks, manna from the sky, and a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night to guide them—and clothes that never wore out (Deuteronomy 8:4)! The memorial pointed to Him.
God does amazing things! As He provides, may we leave behind a lasting tribute to His love and power.
Where do you see evidence of God’s work? What kind of tribute could you leave attesting to His work?
Dear God, thank You for the evidence of Your love that surrounds me.
In the Bible, tributes or memorials—like the stone memorial in Joshua 4—aren’t expressions of wistful longing for the past. Rather, they’re reminders of God’s previous faithfulness to help us trust Him in the present. The Torah—the “law of Moses” itself (8:32)—was rewritten on stones as a memorial (vv. 30-35). God’s rescue of the previous generation from Egypt was remembered at the annual Passover feast (Exodus 13). Similarly, Communion (the Lord’s Supper) is a reminder of the broken body and shed blood of Christ on our behalf (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). Today, as we remember God’s faithfulness in our lives, may we leave behind a lasting tribute.
