The Corner of Second and Elm

 

T

he corner of Second and Elm Streets in my hometown isn’t all that remarkable.  There are no skyscrapers there, no historical landmarks, no flashing signs, and no billboards attracting tourists to the location.  To the North, Elm Street dead ends into another street just below the Lutheran church cemetery and behind a now abandoned textile mill.  To the South, Elm Street dead ends in front of the house where my grandparents used to live.  For its part, Second Street is equally unimpressive.  To the East and West, it passes through quiet neighborhoods and empties into other, smaller streets taking you to different places in town. 

 

At the corner, however, where these two streets meet, stands a building that is very important to me.  This small building sits at an angle overlooking the intersection of these two roads.  This building is now the Church of the Nazarene but when I was a small boy it was known as the Christenbury Memorial Wesleyan Church, and it was here that I learned about and met Jesus Christ as my personal savior. 

 

I pass by that little church several times when I am home visiting family and every time I pass it, a flood of memories fills my mind.  Faces of people who influenced my life pass before my eyes.  Voices of laughter and the singing of hymns still fill my ears and the sermons that were preached and the testimonies that were given are still very much a part of my daily walk with Christ.  At that time I never considered my life would be what it is now and that is the wonderful thing about God, He only gives us what we need to know when we need to know it.  We simply trust Him for the rest.  However, while God does not reveal the future to us, He wants us to remember and never forget all the wonderful things He does for His children. 

 

We find evidence of this in Joshua 4:1-7, “When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."  

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask 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. 

 

Finally, after wondering in the desert for 40 years, Joshua leads the people across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land.  Lest the people forget this working of God, however, they are instructed to remove 12 large stones from the middle of the Jordan River.  The river’s flow was stopped so the people could cross over on dry land from one side to the other.  Joshua was to take these 12 stones and set them up as an everlasting memorial to the people of Israel.  The people were to remember the crossing and when their children asked about the stones, the people were to tell them the story of God’s bringing them out of Egypt’s bondage and settling them in the Promised Land. 

 

What are the places in your life that remind you of God’s love for you?  What can you point to in your own walk with the Lord that brings back memories His work, His grace, and His mercy in your life?  Is there such a place?  Do you visit it often?  How long has it been since you’ve been to the corner of Second and Elm?  Why don’t you visit that place today!