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Page 5 of 5 BUILD A MONUMENT After God performed the miraculous parting of the Jordan river ("the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap") to allow the Israelites to pass through into the promised land, God commanded Joshua to make a monument of twelve stones.
Joshua 4:7 says, "These stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel forever." Read also Joshua 22:26-28.
There may be special incidents in the life of your family where you could build something as a memory. When our seventh grandchild was born here at our home, we planted a willow tree to remember her birth. The tree will grow with her and she will remember the place of her birth.
A HOLIDAY Esther 9:20-32. "Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces.... that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly, as the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor....that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed."
Each memorial feast that God established for His people in the Old Testament were days of feasting and holiday. Later, Christians have kept Easter and Christmas as holiday celebrations of the most wonderful events in history. When Queen Esther was successful in nullifying the plans of the wicked Haman and saving her people from destruction, Mordecai instituted the Purim holiday which is still kept every year until this day.
The early Thanksgiving celebrations held by the Pilgrims were celebrated for three days with feasting, fun and fellowship. All these annual celebrations can be precious times of learning and remembering the wonderful deeds of the Lord. We should turn our children's hearts to the true meaning of these celebrations, because they are for the purpose of remembering.
THE WAYS AND THE WORDS OF THE LORD As we seek to make precious memories for our families, let us remember that the most important memories are the works and ways of God. Let us daily teach our children and remind them and remind them and remind them of God's principles and His living Word.
"I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old."
Deuteronomy 32:7; 1 Chronicles 16:12; Psalm 77:11; 103:2; 105:5; 143:5.
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