1 00:00:02,690 --> 00:00:13,740 Speaker 1: Life Audio Thank you for listening to Your Daily Bible Verse, 2 00:00:14,340 --> 00:00:17,580 Speaker 1: the podcast that examines one verse each day to learn 3 00:00:17,620 --> 00:00:20,260 Speaker 1: more about God and His will for our lives. I'm 4 00:00:20,300 --> 00:00:24,459 Speaker 1: your host, Kyle Norman. After a brief message from one 5 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: of our sponsors, we will continue with our Courage for 6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:47,710 Speaker 1: the Journey series with a discussion on Joshua 7, verse 13. 7 00:00:48,010 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow. For thus says the Lord, the 8 00:00:51,820 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: God of Israel, There are devoted things among you, O Israel. 9 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: You will be unable to stand before your enemies until 10 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,850 Speaker 1: you take away your the devoted things among you. Growing 11 00:01:03,950 --> 00:01:07,330 Speaker 1: up as a child among three siblings, there was bound 12 00:01:07,390 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: to be constant disagreement. Fights and arguments and temper tantrums 13 00:01:12,620 --> 00:01:17,119 Speaker 1: were a natural occurrence. Whenever such things erupted, I always 14 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: had the same retort. You're not me. I'm me. I 15 00:01:21,380 --> 00:01:25,700 Speaker 1: know what I did. Sometimes it would change into I 16 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: know what I said or I know what I want. 17 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,860 Speaker 1: But my point was the same. I got to determine 18 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,470 Speaker 1: the truth about my life. And my experience was the 19 00:01:36,580 --> 00:01:41,729 Speaker 1: only one that mattered. As Israel moved into the Promised Land, 20 00:01:42,330 --> 00:01:47,030 Speaker 1: they faced an ongoing need to battle other nations. Part 21 00:01:47,050 --> 00:01:51,230 Speaker 1: of God's instructions regarding these battles was to destroy the 22 00:01:51,270 --> 00:01:54,570 Speaker 1: devoted things of the land, the idols, the gold, the 23 00:01:54,650 --> 00:01:59,410 Speaker 1: silver and jewels, and those decorations that adorned the nations' worship. 24 00:02:00,370 --> 00:02:06,590 Speaker 1: Destroying these things signified Israel's steadfast faith. It communicated that 25 00:02:06,670 --> 00:02:11,340 Speaker 1: they were concerned not with personal riches or adornments, garnering 26 00:02:11,410 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 1: baubles to build their own kingdom, but they were solely 27 00:02:14,860 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: dedicated to following God's will and living in God's kingdom. 28 00:02:20,540 --> 00:02:24,500 Speaker 1: But in Joshua 7, we read about Achan and how 29 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,380 Speaker 1: he succumbs to the temptation implicit in those devoted things. 30 00:02:28,970 --> 00:02:33,130 Speaker 1: He sees something he likes. He wants it, and so 31 00:02:33,180 --> 00:02:36,700 Speaker 1: he takes it. There are a couple of lessons that 32 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:42,220 Speaker 1: we can glean from this account. Firstly, our faithfulness doesn't 33 00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:45,639 Speaker 1: just affect our own life. We are members of a 34 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: community of faith, and so the way that we live 35 00:02:48,740 --> 00:02:54,540 Speaker 1: faithfully before God and other people matters tremendously. Akin probably 36 00:02:54,580 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: thought that taking the devoted things really didn't matter that much. 37 00:02:58,380 --> 00:03:01,790 Speaker 1: He maybe justified his sin by saying, what's the harm? 38 00:03:02,250 --> 00:03:04,850 Speaker 1: So what if I took something I like? It didn't 39 00:03:04,910 --> 00:03:09,650 Speaker 1: mean that I didn't love God. But Achan's decision to 40 00:03:09,710 --> 00:03:15,740 Speaker 1: turn aside from God's specific instructions had disastrous consequences. When 41 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: Israel went up against the city of Ai, they could 42 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: not overtake them. We read that the hearts of the 43 00:03:22,860 --> 00:03:28,109 Speaker 1: people turned to water. Joshua himself He tears his clothes 44 00:03:28,210 --> 00:03:31,250 Speaker 1: over the concern that other nations would hear about this 45 00:03:31,370 --> 00:03:37,570 Speaker 1: defeat and proceed now to attack them. The hour-hidden sin 46 00:03:37,690 --> 00:03:41,180 Speaker 1: does not just stall our own journey of faith. It 47 00:03:41,220 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: stalls the journey of faith of others as well. I 48 00:03:45,100 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: wonder what Israel thought that moment when they couldn't stand 49 00:03:48,500 --> 00:03:52,380 Speaker 1: against Ai. After all the times that God had gotten 50 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: them through the victory, and after all the miracles that 51 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: they had seen on the heels of the great defeat 52 00:03:57,780 --> 00:04:02,460 Speaker 1: of Jericho, why couldn't they stand against I? And so 53 00:04:02,540 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: in that moment, it must have been clear to them 54 00:04:05,020 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: that something was not right. Now, we might think that 55 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,910 Speaker 1: the small, hidden sins of our lives don't matter that much. 56 00:04:14,850 --> 00:04:18,310 Speaker 1: It's not like future battles will depend on us, but 57 00:04:18,330 --> 00:04:22,489 Speaker 1: Scripture is clear. Hidden sins seep out of our life 58 00:04:22,870 --> 00:04:25,650 Speaker 1: and they negatively touch the people around us in ways 59 00:04:25,890 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: that we can never really know. We are to live 60 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,060 Speaker 1: obedient lives, not just because we want to avoid God's anger, 61 00:04:33,660 --> 00:04:36,299 Speaker 1: but because we want to be a force of blessing 62 00:04:36,380 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: for people. If a sin in my life will cause 63 00:04:40,339 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: someone that I love or care about to hurt or 64 00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:46,580 Speaker 1: be harmed, why would I not want to turn away 65 00:04:46,620 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: from that sin? Secondly, Achan's hidden sin and his claiming 66 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,180 Speaker 1: of devoted things ultimately meant that his heart was devoted 67 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,330 Speaker 1: to a life outside of Yahweh and the Promised Land. 68 00:05:01,589 --> 00:05:04,989 Speaker 1: When we hide sin away so that we can return 69 00:05:05,050 --> 00:05:08,330 Speaker 1: to it again and again, this shows that we have 70 00:05:08,390 --> 00:05:12,840 Speaker 1: turned away from Yahweh. Sin isn't just about what we 71 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:17,180 Speaker 1: do or what we do not do. Sin ultimately is 72 00:05:17,220 --> 00:05:20,059 Speaker 1: a matter of the heart. It's about where our hearts 73 00:05:20,140 --> 00:05:24,870 Speaker 1: are turned. Because of this, sin derails our life. It 74 00:05:24,910 --> 00:05:27,110 Speaker 1: takes us off the path that God wants to lead 75 00:05:27,190 --> 00:05:31,070 Speaker 1: us in. God declares that Israel could not stand before 76 00:05:31,089 --> 00:05:37,160 Speaker 1: I because, quote, they had become a thing devoted to destruction. Spiritually, 77 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,300 Speaker 1: we become what we worship. And so, hiding sin away 78 00:05:41,620 --> 00:05:46,040 Speaker 1: derails our participation in God's activity in this world because 79 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,020 Speaker 1: it hinders us from encountering the blessings that God so 80 00:05:50,140 --> 00:05:55,260 Speaker 1: richly wants us to experience. When we follow the ways 81 00:05:55,300 --> 00:05:58,740 Speaker 1: of our own desires, or the voice of riches or success, 82 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,380 Speaker 1: or the voice of would-be gods, we simply can't presume 83 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,380 Speaker 1: to experience the lavish love and grace that God so 84 00:06:07,460 --> 00:06:11,700 Speaker 1: deeply wants to bestow upon us. The good news is 85 00:06:11,740 --> 00:06:14,799 Speaker 1: that God is gracious in love and abounding in mercy. 86 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: And so if there is a sin that you have hidden, 87 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:20,350 Speaker 1: all that you need to do is to close it 88 00:06:20,380 --> 00:06:25,150 Speaker 1: before God. In raw honesty, confess your sins before God, 89 00:06:25,570 --> 00:06:28,849 Speaker 1: and He is faithful and just to purify your sins 90 00:06:29,210 --> 00:06:32,890 Speaker 1: and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. That is the truth 91 00:06:32,910 --> 00:06:36,370 Speaker 1: of Scripture, and it is a fact about God's love 92 00:06:36,390 --> 00:06:36,650 Speaker 1: for you.