Flash Back!

Joshua 24: 27 – “Then Joshua said to all the people, “This stone will help you remember what we said today.  This stone was here when the Lord was speaking to us today. So this stone will be something that helps you remember what happened today.”

I do not visit FACEBOOK often, but when I do check on postings and comments on my page, the one day I usually like to visit is Thursday when friends upload images of “Flashback Thursday”. It is fun to see the items from my past that I had long forgotten; many things that at the time I just knew I would never be able to live without.  Now years later, if it were not for a vintage photograph I would hardly even remember it existed.  Isn’t it funny how that can happen? Things we think we will never forget or lose interest in will fade out of our consciousness as soon as some new ‘shiny’ thing grabs our attention.   I knew I was all that and a bag of chips when I popped an 8-track into my portable orange and black player with detachable speakers.  And who could forget the maxi (down to the ankles) coat with the two layers of zippers so you could zip away a bottom layer and have a ‘midi’ coat or zip away the top layer and have a ‘mini’ coat… Ahhh  sookie sookie now!!!!  Could not tell me nuttin’,  

We all have occasions to look briefly back at things we long forgot and for a few fleeting moments we reminisce and even cherish the thoughts of those items, people, events and circumstances that were so special at the time.  God knew that the mind of man was fleeting and that if it were not for the practice of providing mementoes we would allow too many important things to ‘fade to black”.  In the scripture for today, Joshua had a large stone placed by an oak tree near the Lord’s Holy tent so that they would remember the promise they had made to serve the Lord.  God will provide similar tokens or keepsakes to help us remember our ultimate purpose and to stay on track.  We can hear a certain song and be thrown immediately into praise. Our souls will leap and our spirits soar just at the mention of a certain scripture.  Nothing takes me quicker down memory lane of my own decision to accept Jesus as my personal Savior than to hear the melody of “How Great Thou Art”.   

As we travel through life it is important to place a few ‘stones’ along the way to help us remember the valuable things that God has done for, through, because and in spite of us.  It is needed that our souls be reminded of where we have come from and how far God has brought us.  Let us never be too busy or too important to put up a ‘marker’ as God provides miracles in our lives; so that when time and distance separates us from them we can see these reminders and  ‘flash back’ of good our God has always been, is and will always be.

Every day is a good day; it is up to us to make it a GREAT day!  Be blessed! Dr. JoAnn