imagine sharing this with others in your annual Christmas/New Year’s letter imagine humbly sharing this with others over coffee And God can use our experiences to teach them truth that IS in the Bible, which can help them down the road consider picking up a Bible and learning directly from it). (Now I am NOT saying that our experiences are more important than the Bible–NOT AT ALL! It’s just that some people don’t want to hear about the Bible but they are often willing to hear about us. They might not believe the food exists, but many are interested in hearing how God tastes to us. While some won’t listen if we ask them, “May I tell you what the Bible says about suffering?”, it often disarms people when we ask them, “May I share with you what God has been teaching me lately as I have suffered? May I share with you a time in my life when God carried me through a terrible storm?” In some ways, it’s easy to argue with the Bible but it isn’t so easy to argue with/refute another person’s experience. Some people don’t CARE what the Bible says about a topic or an issue or don’t care about what God did in the Bible, but some of those same people DO CARE about what you have experienced, about what God has done in your specific and unique life. Building altars of remembrance for what God has done for us and taught us in the past will help us in our present to make wise choices.Ĭ. Because it’s a GREAT way to tell others about Jesus. Adam & Eve didn’t remember what God said to them, didn’t remember what God did for them in warning them about the one tree and in generously providing for them with the other trees! What devastating consequences their lack of remembrance has had on all humans and creatures ever since. God never said THAT! He only said not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (though let the record show that God did allow Adam & Eve to eat from ANY OTHER TREE in the vast Garden of Eden). Satan tricked Eve (and Adam!) by asking a leading question in Genesis 3:1: “Did God REALLY say…?” Even answered the serpent with an incorrect memory/understanding of what God really did tell her–Eve said that God said not even to TOUCH the tree (Genesis 3:3). Hindsight is often 20/20, and when we can’t see/feel God in our present circumstances it is a HUGE boost to our faith to be able to see Him in our past circumstances.ī. So Why Should WE Build Altars of Remembrance?Ī. When God dried up the Jordan river so His people could safely cross: Joshua 4:1-9 When God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses: Exodus 24:4
When God defeated the Amalekites: Exodus 17:8-16 When God rescued Jacob from Esau: Genesis 33:20Īgain to remember when God rescued Jacob from Esau: Genesis 35:1-3 When God promised that He would always be with Jacob: Genesis 28:10-19 These altars of remembrance–constructed of simple, local stones–would serve to remind future generations of God’s past faithfulness in order to give them strength to continue trusting the LORD in their present trials. At various times in the Old Testament, God’s people set up a simple altar of remembrance at a place where God did an especially powerful miracle, at a place where God dramatically rescued His people, at a place where God taught them an important lesson.
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