Rocks

My dear friends, Jeff and Ginger, have seen the world; having visited a myriad of countries. So much so that I have considered awarding each of them the nickname, ‘Scott’ (for the implication of this name is ‘Traveler’).

When they visited India, they brought back a beautiful table covering, and Indian sweets for my wife and me. When they visited Scotland, they purchased a MacDonald Clan broadsword and presented it to yours truly. And thus, as they were days away from departing on their most recent trip to the Mideast, Ginger asked me what I wanted.

Without so much as a second thought, I responded,

“I would like to have a stone from the Garden Tomb of Jesus.”

Little could I have known, however, that upon their return I would be the proud recipient of not one, but several stones originating from,

The Garden Tomb of Jesus

The Shores of the Sea of Galilee

Mount Sinai

Mount Nebo

And though weeks have elapsed since my friends returned, and I have long since found places for these cherished relics, it is only in the past few minutes, and as I prepare to pedal my nightly 10 mile trek, I experienced somewhat of an epiphany.

For you see, dear readers, it occurs to me that the separate geographical locations from whence the stones originate represent figurative places in which I have so often found myself.

Sacred Stones

The Garden Tomb of Our Lord Jesus

“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new.” (2nd Cor. 5:17)

Each time I go out, each time I prepare to leave my home, I pick up this 1x1 inch flat sliver of rock and tuck it in my pants pocket, as a reminder of what I refer to as ‘The Resurrection Life,’ and that I have the responsibility to live as befitting the resurrection of my Lord Jesus Christ. No longer dominated, nor overwhelmed by the sins of our earthly father, Adam, but rather, redeemed by the finished work of the God-man; the Son of our Heavenly Father.

The Shores of the Sea of Galilee

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.” (Matt. 4:18)


I recently bequeathed one of these stones, (for there were several) to a current understudy. And having done so urged him to, (as Paul, himself, admonished us) “Walk worthy of the vocation to which you are called.” (Eph. 4:1)

In my role as counselor, professor and mentor I have enjoyed the inestimable privilege of impacting thousands whom God has set in my pathway. I daily reflect on the inestimable value of my spiritual Heritage, my God-given Destiny and my eternal Legacy. It is a privilege to “walk today where Jesus walked.”

I am all too aware of the brevity of life, and I am mindful of the adage, “my students are living messages to a time that I will never see.”

Mount Sinai

“The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up.” (Exodus 19:20)

“When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant…’ (Exodus 34:30)

I just paused to retrieve the rock upon which Moses may have stumbled when he climbed Mount Sinai, and trembled before the Creator of the earth and stars. As I write these words it lies just inches from my fingertips.

And interestingly enough, the rock is a geode, cloven in two, and not unlike the seeming contradiction represented by the spiritual man; who is plain on the outside, but glorious within. 


For you see, the pale, plain fist-sized stone before me is hollow, and the inside is replete with quartz crystal; an apt reminder of Moses’ pale reflection of the glory with which God enveloped Himself, as they convened on the sacred mountain.

My friends, it is not for nothing that those times of spiritual refreshing have been referred to as a ‘mountain top experience;’ (with an obvious implication that such times and seasons are far too few and come much too seldom).

Mount Nebo

“Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not crossover into it.” (Deut. 34:1,4)

A non-descript sliver of stone which speaks to the general dreariness, no moroseness of the foregoing scripture. To see the land afar off, but not to enter in. And though I find myself closer to the end, than the beginning, unlike Moses I am not yet ready to cash it all in. And yet, we find those ‘Mount Nebo’s’ scattered along our Christian walk.

Those Nebo’s of delay, despair, doubt and disillusionment. We have all ‘been there;’ (and we will, no doubt, find ourselves scaling those all too familiar, depressive peaks again).

“You need to persevere so that after you have done God’s will, you will receive what He has promised. For, ‘In just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back, I will take no pleasure in him.’” (Hebrews 10:36-38)

And while we may easily adopt the traditional meaning of this prophetic passage, our God maintains the inestimable wherewithal to turn prophetic to practical, and bring us back down our Nebo’s.


And if, like Moses, we have climbed our final Nebo we can be sure His mercy is sufficient for the day, and His grace for the task.

“After all the people had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, ‘Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe. Tell them to get twelve rocks from the middle of the river, from where the priests stood. Carry the rocks and put them down where you stay tonight.’


So Joshua chose one man from each tribe. Then he called the twelve men together and said to them, ‘Go out into the river where the Ark of the LORD your God is. Each of you bring back one rock, one for each tribe of Israel, and carry it on your shoulder. They will be a sign among you. In the future your children will ask you, What do these rocks mean? Tell them the water stopped flowing in the Jordan when the Ark of the Agreement with the LORD crossed the river. These rocks will always remind the Israelites of this.’

So the Israelites obeyed Joshua and carried twelve rocks from the middle of the Jordan River, one rock for each of the twelve tribes of Israel, just as the LORD had commanded Joshua. They carried the rocks with them and put them down where they made their camp. Joshua also put twelve rocks in the middle of the Jordan River where the priests had stood while carrying the Ark of the Agreement. These rocks are still there today.” (Joshua 4:1-8)

Yes, my friends, these rocks are still here today.


  By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 39. Copyright pending

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