If you walk into our headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, you will immediately see this Scripture on the wall: “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done” (Psalm 78:4). This is a precious Scripture to ACSI as we recognize a key part of why we exist. Across the history of the Jewish people, God was very intentional about ensuring that His people remembered the key events that demonstrated His faithfulness and goodness to them. Passover celebrates God’s deliverance of the Jews from Egypt in the days of Moses, and Purim celebrates God’s deliverance of the Jews from Haman in the days of Esther. Our own Christian holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, follow that model of remembrance with Christ’s birth, death, burial, and resurrection.
One of the biggest benefits of remembrance is bringing ourselves back to moments in time, whether in our lifetimes or across history, to recall what the LORD has done. The further we drift from the moments God moved in our lives and across history, the more subject we are to creating our own narratives that are based on present feelings, circumstances, and cultural norms.
Instead, by contemplative and worshipful remembrance, we remind ourselves of all that we believe and why, piercing through the shakiness of our present condition and re-establishing ourselves on the Rock of Ages. This gives us confidence that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, with his faithfulness and goodness in the past extending further still into our present and future.
Many times in Scripture, God calls for tangible reminders of major events to be established. In Joshua 4:1-8, God instructs the Israelites to cross the Jordan River, which He miraculously stopped to allow the Israelites to cross. Joshua directs representatives from the 12 tribes to take stones from the riverbed. These stones are later set up in the Promised Land at Gilgal as a memorial to God’s faithfulness and intervention. Later in the chapter, the story continues:
“On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 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.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” Joshua 4:19-24
Memorial stones can be adapted in many ways. There are the traditional Christian celebrations, sacraments, and other valuable annual repetitions of the church calendar. But they can also be created among your families. Part of how my family celebrates New Year’s Eve is we select 100 pictures and videos that represent the most significant moments of this year. I sit our family down (our kids are five and under), and we put the selections on our TV. One by one, we go through them, our family participating in sharing what they remember about those moments. Later, when our kids are in bed, my wife and I cook a meal together and memorialize the last year by celebrating God’s faithfulness through each up and down. We pray for each other and look forward to what God will do next, in faith expecting another year in which we may go through together for God’s glory.
Many people look back into the past and choose to become bound by it. But the LORD calls us to look back for purposes of looking ahead. Remembering God’s faithfulness and goodness, even if things have not gone well recently, can fill you with hope and expectation that he will redeem the past as you sing of the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD.
In 2025, take moments to stop to establish memorial stones among your families and those closest to you. Tell the next generation about the Cross, the Tomb, and the Resurrection. Tell them about how God rescued you from the depths of despair, from the clutches of your darkest sin, and from the disaster that came of your pride and selfishness.
Looking forward, 2025 will be filled with opportunities and challenges, and we don’t know what the year will bring. But prepare yourself for the end of the year by resolving in your heart to remember what God has done and celebrate what God is doing, taking stones from the riverbed and bringing them into the promised land. God only knows how the story of your 2025 may ripple through generations to come, through the ears of people you may never meet, as they encounter Jesus through the stories you memorialize.
About the Author:
Chris Loncar is the VP of Human Resources at the Association of Christian Schools International. He spent the first 10 years of his calling as a pastor before transitioning to the human resources field, a blend that has given him a versatile and thoughtful approach to leading the HR function of an organization. He has a Bachelors Degree in Human Resources Management and is a Senior Certified Professional through the Society of Human Resources Management. His passion is fostering environments and creating opportunities for employees to thrive in what they are gifted to do by coming alongside to advise, train, encourage, and inspire. He resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his beautiful wife and three young children.