Deal with Sin

"So the Lord said to Joshua, 'Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.'" -Joshua 7.10-12

Israel has been defeated by a small town that should have been an easy victory. Joshua tears his clothes and falls on his face before God after the defeat, and God tells him that there is sin in the camp. He tells Joshua to get up and deal with the sin, and until He does, God will not be with the people.

Sin has to be dealt with. It cannot be overlooked and allowed to remain among God's people. Sin is a cancer that spreads throughout and destroys the entire body. It must be completely removed, otherwise the body is at risk. God tells Joshua to get up and cut the cancer out of the camp.

Men, if we want God's presence and blessing, we must get rid of sin. If sin is present, God cannot be. If we choose sin, we are rejecting God. If we allow sin to go unchecked and unchallenged then we are not allowing God to be present in our lives.

There are times when God wants to act, when He wants to pour out blessings on your life, but He can't because there is sin. This is not to say that every time something does not work out for us it is because of sin in our lives. There are times God is saying no because it isn't the best thing for us. There are times He says not yet because the timing isn't right. Sometimes God's plan is just different than ours, and sin has nothing to do with it. But there are times when sin is the only thing keeping God from working in our lives, and in those moments we must deal with it.

Let us be men who are not hindered from God's blessing by sin. Let us be men who refuse to turn a blind eye to the issues and ignorantly ignore them. Let us be men who deal with sin.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor