You Never Sin Alone

While reading through Joshua 7 my heart was pricked at the end when I read the punishment that Achan and his family faced because of Achan’s sin.  It just reminded me that Achan was not the only one who paid the price.  His wife and children paid the price of their lives as well. 

Before you think, “Well that was then, that was the God of the Old Testament and He was just trying to make a point,” you need to understand that we still serve that God.  He hasn’t changed.  You know what else hasn’t changed?  The pain that sin causes still hasn’t changed.

You see I’ve been there and done that.  I know what it is like to cause deep pain to those you love.  I know the shame that comes when you are caught and found out.  It hurts.  It hurts deeply.  There are wounds made that takes years to heal.  So please listen to me.  You never ever sin alone.  It always effects others around you.

What To Do Before You Go To War

What do you do before you go to war?  You circumcise your entire army.  At least that is what the children of Israel were commanded to do before starting their battle at Jericho.  Now from a living by sight perspective this makes no sense at all.  These are not little baby boys that we are talking about.  These are grown men who will possibly have to do hand to hand combat in the coming days.  If I was a soldier I may have questioned the logic on this one.

But if we remember Joshua 1 where God was giving instructions to Joshua then we will remember that God told him to be careful to do everything that He said.  If he did then he would have great success.  Joshua and the Israelites didn’t need a strong army as much as they needed God.  Even though obedience here didn’t make sense, it still was obedience.  The first battle of Jericho showed them what an awesome God was capable of.  And though it may have been just a little uncomfortable marching around that city, the battle was the Lord’s. Through obedience God’s people placed themselves in a position for God to act and move in their lives.

God has been speaking to me a lot about obedience lately.  It has been appearing on almost every page of Scripture that I’ve read lately.  Yesterday I was reading a little book that was given to me.  Here itis:

In this book the author challenged me to pursue God.  Stop pursuing the next sale or whatever I thought would bail me out of the struggle I’m facing and just pursue a relationship with Him.  That has been my prayer that I would truly seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.  Does that mean I suddenly get lazy and stop trying to sale a piece of real estate.  Absolutely not!  It just means that I pursue that which matters the most.  So what are you pursuing today?  Hey we are going to war.  OBEY!