Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Yahweh said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that? Israel has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Yes, they have even taken some of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and also deceived. They have even put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel can’t stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up! Sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, “There is a devoted thing among you, Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted thing from among you.””
(Joshua 7:10-13)

“Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger;
    and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.
Fraudulent food is sweet to a man,
    but afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.”
(Proverbs 20:16-17)

The taking of the Land of Promise is marked with very clear illustrations of God’s faithfulness and Israel’s PARTIAL obedience. This is one of the lessons God was trying to teach them with all the strict rules of the Law. What ONE does affects the WHOLE. Sin is a CANCER. It CANNOT be tolerated. It CANNOT be excused away. It needs to be CUT OUT. ELIMINATED. Obedience needs to be TOTAL in order to receive the TOTAL blessing. They took the city by doing what God told them to – even though it was beyond reason and frankly ridiculous (1 Corinthians 1:27). But Achan chose to DISOBEY. To REBEL. He wasn’t thinking of the CONSEQUENCES. He was thinking about what He WANTED. What he FELT like. God said ALL. Achan held back SOME. There was sin and it would affect them all. Sin – even a little – damages, contaminates, and robs us of what God wills for us to have and walk in (John 10:10).

What we are cautioned to do is not to take unwarranted risks. This is true in the physical world of lending money and swindling for food. This is also true in the spiritual world of sin and obedience. The Word gives us sound advice. Advice for succeeding at life from God’s point of view. Of being where He can BLESS us because we will be in belief, trusting Him, and willing to engage what He is giving us. This should automatically keep us from sin BECAUSE if we kept in mind the natural consequences of Sin (for example, getting divorced when you cheat on your spouse, or getting arrested when you commit a crime, or getting pregnant because you had sex.), we wouldn’t choose to sin. When we keep the painful results of sins in our mind, we would choose to restrict our feelings and desires – that drive for physical/emotional/material gratification. Obedience is wise. Sin is ALWAYS stupid. Obedience is logical. Sin is emotional.

Summary

We are so surprised when things aren’t happening the way we thought they would. Often it is US who have moved out from under the BLESSING. We rob ourselves of victory by CHOOSING sin. Temptation is NOT sin! It is the door that sin knocks on (Genesis 4:7). WE are the ones that open the door to let it in. It is not GOD’s doing, it is OURS. We are the ones who moved away, not Him. When we do that, we need to repent. We MUST repent and the sooner the better. Achan waited until the finger was pointing at him instead of coming forward. We need to get RID of the trappings of the sin that we chose to pick up. Repenting means knowing what God thinks about that sin and deciding to agree with Him about it in word, thought, and deed. The heartfelt removing of sin IMMEDIATELY restores FAVOUR. Don’t hold onto sin or its supposed rewards. Don’t lie about it (to yourself, God, or anyone else). Don’t keep it as ‘yours’. Get rid of it. Take that newly empty space and fill it with the Word of God. His precepts. His ideas. His moral character. Don’t be emotional about it. Be godly.