From the Home Place

August 22, 2025

I invite you to open your Bible to the fourth chapter of the book of Joshua. I am of the opinion that here, we too often miss one of the keys to walking with God.

Joshua is the new leader faced with the task of bringing the people of Israel into the Promised Land. They cross the Jordan River, “on dry land” and enter into the land of Cannan. Joshua, following God’s instructions, selects 12 men to gather twelve big rocks from the bottom of the Jordan River for a very specific purpose.

Begin your reading in Joshua 4:1. As you read through this chapter, be sure to stop at verse 20 for a long hard look at what God is saying. Now you are ready to read verse 21, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come saying, ‘What are these stones?’

We are all experiencing the break-down of the American family. Yes, men and women are still falling in love, they are still getting married, and they are still having children. The problem is that too often the fathers have stopped teaching their children about who God is, and about what God has done in dad’s life. My personal opinion about why this is so: Most young men are so focused upon what they are doing to have any time to visit with their children about what God is doing, because most of our young men do not know God in the first place. Another discussion for another day.

Look at verse 22, “then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’” At first reading, it seems nothing too major – the people crossed the “Jordan on dry ground.” Next? It is so easy to notice what the people did, that we often fail to notice what God did!

Because we have become an extremely “self-sufficient” society, we tend to take credit for all of the amazing things God has done within our day-to-day lives. We seldom notice His working within the circumstances of our lives, and as such, have no stories to share with our children about God’s amazing grace!

You see my friends, we can’t tell our children about what God has done for us today in our lives, if we don’t even notice what God has done. We can report what our favorite sports team has done, we can report what happened at work – or on the way to or from work. But most men fail to report to their children what God did today!

Jesus stated, “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt. 6:34) Have you ever stopped to wonder why Jesus said that? Could it be that the troubles of each day present us with the opportunity to see what God is doing in our lives? However, we too often turn self into the hero of the story. If our men share anything with their children, it tends to be about what “I” did; seldom about what God did.

When a camara is out of focus, even the most amazing subject is out of focus when we look at the picture. I am suggesting that we American men have allowed the ways of this world to cause our life cameras to become out of focus. It is time that we ask God to help each of us to clearly focus the lens of our mind upon Him so that we can see clearly, thus giving God the glory for great things He has done.

Regaining proper focus with you, Neal