Taking possession of the Promised Land wasn’t going to be easy for Israel. They were going to have to drive out all the inhabitants of the land (Ex. 23:20-33). Not only were they to drive the inhabitants out, they would also need to destroy any semblance of the people’s religions and lifestyles. The Lord said, “destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places” (Num. 33:52). Israel had shown a fondness for the Egyptian way of life, and Baal worship during their wildness wanderings. Therefore, the Lord was giving them commands to destroy anything that might entice them to forsake their first love.
If Israel allowed the inhabitants of Canaan to stay, and indulged their way of life, it would be to their disadvantage. The Lord warned them, “But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live.” (Num. 33:55 NLT).
Splinters, thorns, and harassment. That’s exactly what sin will do to us if we fail to conquer it. Have you ever tried to remove a splinter? Splinters can be small but painful. Attempting to remove a splinter takes a lot of effort. No matter the size of the sin, it will injure and prove to be difficult to remove. My childhood home had thorn bushes right near my basketball goal. One careless move and I’d get cut while retrieving my basketball. Sin is like a thorn bush, one careless thought or action could lead to a painful wound. I wasn’t the biggest kid in my class when I was in school. Needless to say, I was the older and bigger kid’s target for harassment some days. If you don’t take a stand against a bully, you’ll always be their victim. If sin isn’t dealt with, it will grow and harass your conscience.
Beloved, we can’t allow sin to inhabit our lives. The apostle Paul said we are to put to death the works of the flesh (Rom. 8:13; Col. 3:5-9; Gal. 5:24; 6:14; 1 Cor. 9:27). We can only drive out the inhabitant of sin through the Holy Spirit, who works with us towards our sanctification (Gal. 5:16).