Wet Ankle Hall of Fame?

REFERENCE POINT: Joshua 3:15. When the priests who were carrying the ark came to the edge of the Jordan River and set foot in the water, the water stopped flowing from upstream.
This passage of scripture has always fascinated me. The water would not stop flowing UNTIL they got their feet wet. They’d still be standing there today (all right, their mummified corpses) if they were waiting on the water to stop flowing before they moved. God was waiting on them to exercise faith in His word and get their feet wet. They did, the water stopped and the whole nation crossed over ON DRY GROUND.
The only ones who get their feet wet that day were the priests carrying the ark—everyone else got to walk on dry land. Without their step of faith there would not have been the successful DRY crossing.
Here’s where my weird mind kicks in. What was it like for them to walk the rest of the way with soggy sandals? Did they slip? Did their sandals squeak, like my pair does when they get wet? Did their feet get muddy since they had wet ankles and soggy sandals and the river bed was now dusty and dust just seems to be attracted to damp soles? Just how uncomfortable were they the rest of the day?
But what a sense of satisfaction they must have shared, knowing their obedience had unlocked God’s power to part the river! For 40 years the nation had looked across that river to the land that should have been theirs. For 40 years they had eaten the same food, worn the same clothes, and followed the same routine while waiting on the older folks to die off. Now, everyone was on the other side and they had led the way.
These guys belong in the Wet Ankle Hall of Fame.
What’s that, you say? You’ve never heard of the Wet Ankle Hall of Fame? I shouldn’t wonder because I just made it up. To the best of my knowledge such a place doesn’t exist—but I think it should. Or, if you think it best to not establish an actual hall, how about a special recognition? Something like making them members of The Royal Order of Soggy Sandals? We could look for contemporary folks worthy of such an honor. We could develop a lapel pin for people who make it into this royal order shaped like a sandal with drops of water gushing out. Maybe develop a logo of a foot being submerged into water for marketing purposes. We could develop a whole line of sandals that are water resistant and dust repellant. We could make them from organic material harvested from the Jordan River or the Red Sea so we could have a connection with the places where the water was parted. Once a year we could have a water-parting party to commemorate these events and have bottled water from Israel flown in. We could push to make it a national holiday and encourage pastors to preach on water crossings on the Sunday leading up to the holiday.
Or, we could recognize that these guys did what they were supposed to do and not make such a big deal out of obedience. I don’t remember seeing their names mentioned as the ones who got their feet wet. They’re just listed as men doing the right thing and God blessed their obedience. May, just maybe, that’s the lesson we need to learn. Don’t make such a big deal out of normal obedience. Expect to always do the right thing and watch what God will do with our obedience.