The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are
you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant,
which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things;
they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own
possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies;
they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to
destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among
you is devoted to destruction.
"Go,
consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for
tomorrow; for this is what the LORD,
the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You
cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it. In the morning, present
yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe that the LORD
takes shall come forward clan by clan; the clan that the LORD takes shall come forward family by
family; and the family that the LORD takes
shall come forward man by man. He who is caught with the devoted things shall
be destroyed by fire, along with all that belongs to him. He has violated the covenant
of the LORD and has done a
disgraceful thing in Israel!’ ”
Early
the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward by tribes, and Judah was taken.
The clans of Judah came forward, and he took the Zerahites. He had the clan of
the Zerahites come forward by families, and Zimri was taken. Joshua had his
family come forward man by man, and Achan son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the
son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. (Joshua 7:10-18)
"Sin
Separates." It separates us from God, and therefore from God's blessing.
As I listen to Christians talk, including myself, I hear many excuses for sin.
I also hear whining about God not blessing. This is especially true when we
talk about this country. "We are a proud, sinful nation," is repeated
in one form or another. Then examples are given of politicians who are corrupt,
celebrities who behave shamefully, and groups that deserve the fires of hell.
What I don't hear so much is confession and repentance within the Church. We
reject marriage and build lives with lovers. We get divorced. We accept the
sins of outsiders in the name of "love" so they will "join"
us without laying aside their sins, and so sin becomes acceptable within the
Church. I've been discussing the issue of abortion with some people who seem to
think it's a political issue. It is in a way, but for all our screaming about
abortion out in the society at large, what are we doing about abortion within
the church? Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments, but
live lives of license instead.
Then
we wonder why the church is nor drawing others to it. We wonder why our nation
is in such turmoil. We wonder why those running for office are such horrible
people. We wonder why there is so much crime. We steal, we lie, we hide and
worse, we proudly display our sin.
God told Israel that the Israelite
who had stolen from God had to be destroyed by fire along with what he had
taken. There is no one free of sin, of course, but God's attitude toward sin
has never been "Oh well." It has never been "Well, that's
OK." It's time for Christians to put their houses in order. It's time to
ask, "Lord, is there some sin that I've been ignoring or haven't
noticed?" and then deal with the answer. It may be time to sit down with
those loved ones who are in rebellion and tell them that they are loved, but
that their behavior needs to change - even if those loved ones are ourselves,
and outlining the consequences of their/our choices and actions. I know I need
to start going through my internal family (aspects of my life) to find the
contraband and burn it. It's a scary decision to make.
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