Teaching with Symbols

Teaching with Symbols | Joshua 4:20-22

Joshua 4:20-22

And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.  He said to the Israelites, "In the future when your descendants ask their parents, 'What do these stones mean?'  tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’”

On a shelf in my study is a large piece of a brake drum from a semi-truck. One night as Lori and her family were traveling south on 1-35 from Kansas to Oklahoma this five-pound piece of metal flew from a truck and through the front window of their car, shattering the glass. The deadly object went over Lori’s head, hit the top of the interior roof and went out the back window, just missing Lori’s mom.  None of the seven people in the car were injured (Lori actually wrote about this “Night of the Miracle” in Young Ambassadors when she was 11 years old, becoming a published writer long before me).  

Like the twelve stones that Joshua set up, this piece of brake drum serves as a visual reminder of God’s sovereign protection. It also serves as a visual testimony to anyone who asks, “Why do you have a broken off piece of brake drum on your bookshelf?” 

I love the significance of significant symbols. Do you have these types of reminders in your home? I’d love to hear what they are and what they represent.

Father, thank you for symbols like the empty cross, the bread and cup, and baptism. Help us to never forget the significant events you have done in our lives. Help us tell the stories as a testimony of your provision. One more thing . . . please give us new and fresh stories to tell. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

God Bless!