Milestones, Cornerstones, Smooth Stones and Cairns
Good Morning Friends,
Those of you who read these devotionals know that I like to hike on trails that others have walked on. The red trail blazes on trees and stones put upon stones as trail markers help keep one from getting lost. Following that image today we look at the rocks of the Bible and our journey along the way of Jesus in hopes of following the way with words in praise of Milestones, Cornerstones, Smooth Stones and Cairns.
Scripture:Deuteronomy 32:1-4 (NIV)
Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.
I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:1-2 (NIV)
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18 (NRSV)
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” he replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
Luke 19:39-40 (NIV)
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
1 Samuel 7:12 (NRSV)
In all thy ways acknowledge [the Lord], and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:6 (KJV)
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
Psalm 118:22 (NIV)
Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17:40 (NIV)
Message: The writing of these daily devotionals is like an Ebenezer… A fresh beginning every day, yet a marker of change…a stone fixed monument to God’s faithfulness…visible for all who pass this way. Amazing to think that I have written a thousand of them. So today is a milestone of sorts, denoting the pace of the journey and my progress step by step. Like David’s smooth stones of courage, confidence, and preparation and trust they are intended to help build up for the victory of grace on the journey but are also witness that it is a battle. They are like cairns on the journey… denoting the path’s boundaries and the direction of the way I am traveling. I do hope they are more than a pile of words and rocks. I hope they combine into a whole greater than the sum of the parts. I hope they mark the story of the way but also, I hope, they build community for others on the journey. Leaving a stone on a this cairn…. a word written each day… is a way of saying I have passed this way and if you follow be prepared to build your life on the cornerstone of Christ.
Pray we are reminded each day of the Rock of our Salvation. Pray God show us the path home along the stream of Holy History to the place of promise. Pray the ministry in our life is prayer-directed. Pray we say yes to storytelling and community building. Pray we say no to the paths that manipulate God to satisfy our own selfish needs. Pray we walk in the way marked by His love. Pray we follow the markers of Christ. Pray we build our house on a rock. Pray our path is well lit so that we do not miss the markers.
Daily Devotionals 