Leaving a Legacy | Liberty at Home

What do good old fashioned New England stone walls have to do

with you? Find out on this week's episode

of Liberty at Home. Hey now, and welcome to our

latest edition of Liberty at Home, a program brought to you

by the Liberty Baptist Church on Washington Street.

I'm your host, Adam Rivero, and I've been the pastor of Liberty

since its inception in 2013. Today, as always, we're

broadcasting from Easton, MA where you may be tempted to chop

down a beautiful spruce tree at Frothingham Park to take home

and decorate for Christmas, But believe me, you don't want to do

that. Today we'll be looking at

several verses in Joshua chapter 4 as we consider the legacy of

Joshua 4 · chapter mention

our lives. So we'll begin in Joshua chapter

Joshua 4 · chapter mention

4 verse one, where it says, And it came to pass when all the

people were clean passed over Jordan, that the Lord spake unto

Joshua, saying, Take you 12 men out of the people, out of every

tribe a man. And command ye them saying, take

you hence out the midst of Jordan, out of the place where

the priest feet stood firm 12 Stones, and you shall carry them

over with you, and leave them in the lodging place where you

shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the 12 men

whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every

tribe a man. And Joshua said unto them,

Passover before the ark of the Lord, your God in the midst of

Jordan, and take ye up, every man of you, a stone upon his

shoulder, according unto the number of tribes of the children

of Israel. That this may be a sign among

you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come,

saying, What mean ye by these stones?

And he shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut

off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

When it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off,

and these stones shall be a memorial unto the children of

Israel forever. When I moved to New England

almost 13 years ago, I quickly learned our area's primary crop,

rocks. They're everywhere.

Every time you dig, your shovel makes a dull clink as it hits

yet another rock. Now our forefathers, in a great

example of Yankee ingenuity, use these rocks to their advantage.

Like in the old country, they stack these rocks into sturdy

stone walls to mark the boundaries of their land.

If you walk around east and long enough, you'll find plenty of

these walls still standing. They stand firm as testimonies

of the perseverance of generations passed on.

Now in Joshua chapter 4, God instructed the Israelites to do

Joshua 4 · chapter mention

something very similar to the rock stacking of our

forefathers. After 40 years of wandering in

the wilderness, Israel had one final obstacle before entering

the promised land, the mighty Jordan River.

Now God miraculously stop the flow of the swelling river so

all Israel could cross on dry ground before God restored the

flow of water. Joshua commanded that a

representative of each tribe, 12 in all, each take a large stone

from the river and pile them into a makeshift memorial on the

riverbank. For what purpose?

Well, Joshua chapter 4, verses 6 and seven explained it, that

Joshua 4:6

this may be a sign among you that when your children ask

their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these

stones, then you shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan

were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

When it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off.

And these stones shall be a memorial under the children of

Israel forever. You see, the stones were placed

there as a legacy to future generations so that those who

did not see the miracles of God during the wandering years could

hear about them from their parents, who had heard about it

from their parents, and well, so on.

Just like our stone walls, the stone memorial spoke to

generations that followed. Although our walls are a

testimony to those who lived here before us.

The memorial to Jordan River, well, that was a testimony to

the goodness of God. As we consider leaving a legacy

for the generations that follow us, consider this, you can leave

something to your children or grandchildren far more valuable

than a monetary inheritance. Money can be such a fleeting

thing and it doesn't guarantee happiness.

The psalmist tells us the best thing we can pass on when he

says in Psalm chapter 16 verse 6, Yay, I have a goodly

Psalms 16:6

heritage. Instead of working so hard to

leave a legacy of things like money, property, or possessions,

let's take some time to build a foundation that will last.

Let's take our families to God's house.

Let's read the Bible together. Let's pray together.

Let's build a memorial that will stand for generations to come.

Well, thanks for tuning in today's episode of Liberty at

Home. I truly hope you'll visit us

sometime soon at Liberty Baptist Church.

You know what I'm going to say? We meet every Sunday and

Wednesday at 800 Washington St. on Route 138.

You can find us on YouTube, Facebook, your favorite podcast

app, or at my libertybaptist.org.

Well, my time's up. So don't forget where the Spirit

of the Lord is, there is Liberty.

Catch you next week on ECAT for another edition of Liberty at

Home.