Comprehensive

Read: Joshua 7:1-15

[The Lord said,] “I will not remain with you any longer unless you destroy the things among you that were set apart for destruction.” Joshua 7:12

IN WORD

God had promised to remain with Joshua and the people of Israel—to personally go ahead of them, without fail (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8). And in a universe in which He is omnipresent, how could He not? He is everywhere at all times, and particularly present for His people. But God’s promise was shaded with an ominous “unless” when His people suffered an unexpected defeat. One man had taken what was forbidden at Jericho, and God threatened to withdraw His presence from the whole nation. The forbidden had to be purged.

We rarely approach our relationship with God that way. We know He loves us and will never withdraw His love. We depend on His grace and trust that our status with Him doesn’t depend on our works. We have been born of His Spirit and don’t expect His Spirit to leave. So a little impurity, a little indiscretion here and there, a few tolerated flaws . . . why go overboard in purging them? What do we have to lose?

However we understand our salvation and our growth in God’s Spirit, we can’t read of Achan’s sin without realizing how zealous God is for our hearts. He isn’t content with a little sin in one part of the camp or in our lives; He is intent on bringing us into His fullness. He knows that our best, most rewarding experience with Him will be a comprehensive one. Anything less is disappointing.

IN DEED

We get to experience the Kingdom by grace through faith. God has dealt with the judgment of our sins. But our fellowship with Him grows deeper and stronger the more we grow to be like Him. We experience the Kingdom more fully when we let the Kingdom sink more fully into us. If His presence is the key to our battles, we need to be zealous about His presence—and about cultivating everything He loves and ridding ourselves of everything He doesn’t.

ADDITIONAL READING: Hebrews 12:1

No sin is small. No grain of sand is small in the mechanism of a watch.

JEREMY TAYLOR