Purifying the land
Numbers 33: Everyone you let stay there will become a cinder in your eye and a splinter in your foot.
In preparation for entering the Promised Land the Lord gives Moses instructions on how to divide the land between the tribes. He also tells Moses that the current inhabitants are to be driven out. No one currently living there is to remain. One way or another, they have to go. If the people of Israel fail in this mission the Canaanites will become thorns in their sides; the source of downfall and destruction. I wonder if the spiritual failures I sometimes see in people’s lives parallel this. The Lord calls me to full surrender to himself. I’m to give him my past, present, and future placing it all in his hands. My habits and wants, my plans and dreams must be handed over to the Lord. As long as I hold things in reserve, I haven’t yet purified the “Canaan” of my heart. If I keep some things locked away in some dark corner of my life the day will come when they will become a “cinder” in my eye and a “splinter” in my foot. The old hymn of invitation that’s actually a prayer beautifully speaks to this: “All to Jesus I surrender, I surrender all.”
Take Away: I surrender my all and in return, the Lord fills me with himself – it’s a very good deal for me.