I open my Bible to Joshua 4, where I see 12 men who have just crossed over the Jordan River, hauling stones, and I get to wondering what that’s all about.
I’m reminded of a little obsession I had few years back, when I started collecting big rocks. My kids remember that summer too well as we hauled a few stones each day from the garden centre to our front yard. The bigger the better I thought, and yet not so large that they couldn’t be moved. In my opinion, it was well worth the work as the garden looked pretty amazing. Oh how I wish I had 12 men to do the work for us…
As I think about that passage of scripture, I read and I pray and I listen to sermons, but just like an itch that needs to be scratched I have a need to dig deeper yet.
I start to wonder if the 12 men are a picture of the early church in the book Acts. 12 stones carefully chosen. 12 men who had walked with Christ, and stood in the very places He stood. 12 stones upon which the church is built, with Christ of course being the cornerstone.
I’m led to 1 Peter 2:5:
“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5, NIV)
We see that God is the one building His church, but we’re more than dead weight. We’re living stones with the responsibility of presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. Together as the body of Christ, we testify to the saving grace of God that freed us from a life of sin and sorrow.
When people ask what is Christianity all about? We answer that question by the way that we live and the way that we love. We answer that question so they know the hand of the Lord is powerful, and that they too might be saved.
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Tilling the Soil
Read 1 Peter Chapter 2 where Peter talks about being a testimony that declares the praises of Him Who calls us from darkness. Also read Joshua chapter 4 where we find the story of the 12 stones.
Planting Hope
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9, NIV)
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Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.
She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.
It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness. Reshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.
Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.
Connect with Darlene:
Facebook: @timewarpwife
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You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife