April 16, 2024 -- Joshua 7:20-21 -- Avoiding the teeth of temptation

And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
Joshua 7:20-21 ESV

The path of sin is clearly spelled out here. Achan confessed his sins to the leader of the Israelites, to Joshua, and to God. He did this only after he was caught red-handed and by-passed every previous opportunity given him to voluntarily confess his sins (but that is for another time). Look at the three verbs which show his descent into sin. He saw a beautiful coat, silver and gold. Seeing drew his attention and his devotion away from God. Rather than immediately declaring these things belong to the LORD, he then coveted. He decided he wanted them for himself. He is already going moving more quickly away from God and towards his sinful lusts. To covet, or to desire for oneself, is to think this would be good for me. I know what the Bible says; I know in the past such things were destructive, but maybe this time things will be different? They won't. Things will end badly. When the eye sees and the heart begins to crave then the Christian mind, governed by the Spirit of God, must turn away immediately. To entertain these thoughts is to allow yourself to be trapped.

Then he moving from thinking to acting. He took the things he’d begun to crave. Prior to seeing the coat, the silver and the gold, he wasn't thinking he was going to betray God. Once Achan's eyes opened and the temptation started, he did not run from it. He embraced it.

Why do you think advertisers are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to place their products in movies, TV shows, video clips and alongside your internet searches? Big corporations  know that once your eye sees them, and you begin to imagine what it might be like to own such a thing, you are half-caught already. How can you resist? How can you fight these temptations?

Psalm 27 invites the believer to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD. He is all perfection. He is the soul’s greatest desire. He is One Who protects His people from devasting desires and crippling lusts that threaten to draw people ever closer to the teeth of hell. It is also why the psalm writer declares “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless” (Psalm 101:3). Why did the psalm writer decide this in advance? Such worthless things could be the very temptation against which he’d not guarded his heart. They might overtake him if he doesn't take action to avoid them.

Beloved, the warning of Achan helps you to understand the command to read the Scriptures. Your eyes and your mind will be filled with greater things than whatever the world could offer. The Word of God helps you become wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus (II Timothy 3:15).

Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer in the Dominion of Canada)

https://youtu.be/4tvOqL5KJOQ?si=rbxEwOuN4UZc6Ho5 “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts”

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