The Subtle Destruction of Compromise
And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out. - (Judges 1:28)
Approximately two hundred years had passed since Joshua led the Israelites on their famous march around the walls of Jericho. By God’s power, the walls of the city fell, and the Israelites conquered Jericho. Under Joshua’s direction, they also conquered many of the inhabitants of Canaan, including the Amorites, the Hittites, the Ammonites, and the Jebusites.
But the Israelites didn’t finish the job. They failed to drive all the Canaanites from the land, and they lived to regret it. Two hundred years later, the Canaanites had regained strength and began to dominate Israel. The tables were turned. Israel’s enemies were overtaking them.
This can happen to us as Christians. We commit our lives to Christ and effectively give Him the master key to every door in our lives—but maybe not every door. We may leave a few closets locked up because we have some skeletons in them. We have some areas that we don’t really turn over to the Lord, and then those little problems later turn into big problems.
It is not unlike having a tree that has overtaken your yard. You decide it’s time to remove it, and so you cut it down. But you can’t simply cut it down; you also have to pull out the stump too. Otherwise, it will grow back. It might even grow back stronger and cause more trouble.
In the same way, sin needs to be rooted out in our lives. When we compromise a little here and a little there, little things turn into big things. It’s like those adorable bunnies and chicks that parents buy for their children at Easter. Sweet little bunnies turn into adult rabbits, and cute little chicks become full-grown chickens.
Little things turn into big things. That is how sin can work in our lives.
Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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