We all have people and places that we like to remember. When we want to remember a place that we've been, we buy a souvenir. Then, we place it somewhere visible in our home, so that, when a person sees it and compliments it, we are able to go on and on about the wonderful place it came from.



The same goes for special people in our lives. Whether it be friends or family, we like to give and receive little momentos so that we'll always remember each other. Most of the time, we display pictures in our home, at work, on our smartphones, etc. Sometimes, we actually give away little keepsakes...something close to our heart that we want to put in the hands of those we care most about. I, for one, really experienced this when we were having to sell all of our things. I just couldn't bring myself to sell some of the stuff to strangers. Instead, I gave my most prized possessions to those who I knew would appreciate it almost as much as I did.

It's with these souvenirs, photos, and keepsakes that we remember the important things. We treasure those people and places and we want to always be reminded of them.

This habit is something I think we should carry over into our spiritual lives as well. This is no new idea on my part. During the OT times, people used a very simple, yet sufficient, "momento":

• In Gen. 28, Jacob makes a pillar from a stone that he had used as a pillow the night before. He did this after the Father revealed himself in a dream and promised Jacob that his descendants would be great and that all peoples would be blessed through his offspring. He also said that He would always be with Jacob. The Father even reminded Jacob of the stone in Gen. 31:13!

• In Joshua, chapter 4, Joshua set up 12 stones (one for each tribe of Israel) that crossed the Jordan River safely. Joshua said to them, "when your children ask of you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

• In 1 Sam. 7, Samuel places a stone down to remember when the Father delivered the Israelites from the hand of the Philistines. Samuel named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far, the Lord has helped us."

In my daily devotional, Look Unto Me, Charles Spurgeon seemed to take my recent thoughts right out of my brain (and wrote them out in a much more eloquent fashion than I could ever do):

"It is a delightful and profitable exercise to recognize the sovereign hand of the Father in the lives of the ancient saints of old, to observe His goodness in delivering them, His mercy in forgiving them, and His faithfulness in keeping His covenant with them. However, wouldn't it be even more interesting and profitable for us to recognize the hand of God in our own lives? Shouldn't we notice that our own history is at least as full of His goodness, truth, faithfulness, and righteousness as any of the lives of the saints who have gone before us? ...If we would only review our own lives, surely we would discover a number of blessed occasions that would refresh our faith and bring glory to Him." 

Take a moment and look back on all the times He has shown His goodness, truth, faithfulness, and righteousness in your life. Let those be 'stones' that you place down in your life and and may those serve to refresh your faith and bring glory to His name.