The Wake

When a boat passes through water it leaves a wake behind it. Wakes are interesting things. They are the result of an external force (a boat for example) on something else (a body of water in the case of a wake). Wakes are a testimony to the boat who made it.

Can you think of other things we see in our daily lives that give testimony to something else?

How about the contrails behind a plane? I wrote about them a few weeks ago. They are the visible evidence left behind by a plane, vapor trails, a wake in the air if you will, one thing caused by something else.

What else? What about footprints? Footprints are a visible reminder that someone has walked through a particular place. If they are crisp and well-defined we can know that they are fresh. The relative size of the foot print leaver and the direction they are traveling in can also be determined. Hmm. Interesting thoughts coming into my head. Yours?

Have you ever seen one of these things? A pile of stone on the beach or some other place? They are called cairns. What can they tell us? Well, they can tell us that someone was there. Stones just don't stack themselves! The builder also knew something about construction (wide base, narrow top). It took some skill to make this.

Do you know who made the first cairn ever? God did. At least He was The One who came up with the idea. One representative of each Jewish tribe made it. Why?

"4 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. 5 And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” - Joshua 4:1-7

Question time.

• Do you leave a wake as you live the life you were given? A wake for good? A positive wake for God? We should be doing that. We should be touching our community for Christ. We should be loving others as God first loved us (1 John 4:19).
• Do leave a wake for God wherever you go? Leaving a wake is one thing. Who you leave it for is another. We should be spreading The Gospel, in addition to living it,  as we walk through this world. 
• Are we to be a monument to Christ? Crossing the Jordan was a visual representation of us crossing from death to life when we placed our faith in Christ. Our lives are OUR monument. DO we live them like Jesus did?

The life of a Christian is a hard one. And it will get harder. Perhaps you have already faced some persecution in YOUR life for what you believe. I have. Still, despite that, we are to be salt and light to this world we live in. We are to spread God's truth, God's love and God's grace as we walk through our temporary home. We are to be a blessing to God and a blessing to others. Each day let us start anew. Let it be said of us that we lived to be a blessing.

The Blessing - John Waller