From January 15, One Year Bible

Genesis 31:44...54a ~ (conversation between Laban and Jacob...Laban is speaking)

“So come, let's make a covenant, you and I, and it will be a witness to our commitment. So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument. Then he told his family members, 'Gather some stones.' So they gathered stones and piled them in a heap. Then Jacob and Laban sat down beside the pile of stones to eat a covenant meal. To commemorate the event, Laban called the place Jegar-sahadutha (which means 'witness pile' in Aramaic), and Jacob called it Galeed (which means 'witness pile' in Hebrew).” ...(V-49)“But it was also called Mizpah (which means 'watchtower'), for Laban said, 'May the Lord keep watch between us to make sure that we keep this covenant when we are out of each other's sight'.” ...(V-52)“They stand between us as a witness to our vows. I will never pass this pile of stones to harm you, and you must never pass these stones or this monument to harm me.” (53b)”So Jacob took an oath before the fearsome God of his father, Issac, to respect the boundary line. Then Jacob offered a sacrifice to God there on the mountain...”

“Jegar-sahadutha”, Galeed” or “Mizpah”. Whatever they called it, it was still just a pile of rocks. That pile of rocks may not have meant very much to others who passed that way in later years, but to Laban and Jacob they had meaning forever.

Henry Blackaby taught in “Experiencing God” about “spiritual markers”. We were encouraged to review our own past and make a list of things in our lifetime that had a bearing on where and what we are today. I recalled many events and people who had certainly impacted my life, sometimes for good and sometimes not so good. I remember thinking, “I would not be WHERE I am or WHAT I am if these things had not happened to me”.

We need reminders. When we review our “spiritual markers” it is one way to be reminded of our “Mizpah” (watchtower). We will know that The Lord is keeping watch over us and reminding us of His everlasting covenant with us...that He sent His Son to die for us and we still have that eternal promise, His son, Jesus Christ.