(Excerpted from Cheryl Gnagey's book, Spiritual Healing: The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 8)
"What are the results of not driving out the inhabitants (sins) of your heart, when you willfully disobey God's command to remove them? Two verses in the following chapter [of Numbers] show us what the consequences of our disobedience will be. Let me warn you, though...you probably won't like what you find here any more than I did! God spoke these words to Israel as He directed them to remove everyone from the land He had promised them. He could not have been more clear and exact. His words are prophetic, for this is just what happened to Israel.
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you. (Numbers 33: 55-56)
When we let our sin off of God's hook and ours, this is the result:
- Your sins will become as pricks in your eyes.
- Your sins will become as thorns in your side.
- Your sins' will cause you continual trouble.
- Your sins might cause your very destruction.
Do you see that the sin that you allow to remain in your heart, possessing God's home in you, will become the very snare that traps you in its bondage? Our full obedience to God's commands, to His call to holiness, is critical when it comes to dispossessing our sins and gods from our hearts. And our full obedience is critical to our spiritual growth. God takes very seriously our following Him fully, as you can see by these stories recorded in Numbers for our instruction. When it comes to our gods and our sin, what God intends to see destroyed in us can actually end up destroying us! As always, it is our choice as to whether we will fully follow God's commands to take full vengeance on our sin or willfully disobey Him and ignore them. It seems beyond ridiculous that we would choose any other way but the way of obedience!
Neil Marten, a member of the British Parliament, was once giving a group of his constituents a guided tour of the Houses of Parliament. During the course of the visit, a group happened to meet Lord Hailsham, then Lord Chancellor, wearing all the regalia of his office. Hailsham recognized Marten among the group and cried, 'Neil!' Not daring to question or disobey the 'command,' the entire band of visitors promptly fell to their knees! (from Today in the Word, July 30, 1993)
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