READING: Numbers 33-36
“You must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you.”
Numbers 33:52
The promised land awaited the Hebrews. They had wandered in the wilderness for decades, and soon they would finally be in the land. God’s instruction to them at that point was clear and dramatic. They were to “drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, destroy all their stone images and cast images, and demolish all their high places” (Num. 33:52). The Hebrews were not only to dispossess the current inhabitants of the land, but they were also to destroy anything related to their false religion. God had given them the land, and they were to take it according to His plan.
Should they not keep God’s word, though, the inhabitants of the land would become “barbs for your eyes and thorns for your sides” (Num. 33:55). Quite tragically, this is exactly what happened. Because the Hebrews did not drive everyone out, the Canaanites became a thorn in their side—and their false religion became a snare for the Hebrews. They would then suffer exactly what God said: He would drive the Hebrews out of the land just as He said should happen regarding the Canaanites.
I am reminded today of the importance of eradicating any element of sin and disobedience in my life. It’s too easy to get rid of the “big” stuff, but then let the “little” stuff remain—because “the little stuff isn’t so bad after all.” The little stuff then takes a foothold in our life, and that foothold becomes a stronghold. No stronghold of sin began as a stronghold, though; it began by our allowing a little bit of sin to remain in our life.
ACTION STEPS:
- Ask God to show you any place where you’re allowing sin to hang around.
- Make a deliberate decision to drive sin out of your life.
PRAYER: “Father, I don’t want to let sin linger. Show me where I’m doing that.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Deuteronomy 1-3