Sin-Find It Out Before It Finds You Out
Be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23)
Num. 32:20-23, 20:6-13; Prov. 26-27; Lk. 12:2-3; I Cor. 4:5; II Pet. 3:9
What Is God Saying?
The massive migration of God's people from Egypt to Canaan was long and costly. Of those who started the incredible Journey only Caleb and Joshua entered the Promised Land. Moses saw the land but was not allowed to enter it because he impatiently struck the rock with Aaron's Rod during the drought-stricken days of Kadesh, while he was being pressured by those who were over-achievers in the art of complaining. He should have just held the Rod and spoken to the Rock. He succumbed to a wave of unbelief. It was a moment of disobedience and was serious enough to prevent him from crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land (Num. 20:6-13). God attached great importance to His people's entering, subduing, and taking possession of the Land that He promised.
Three tribes (Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh) found the land East of Jordan very much to their liking. They were simple people who lived close to the land and were content with building sheepfolds for their flocks and communities for their families. Moses needed to know they were not just evading their duty in subduing the land of Canaan. He told them they could return to the land of their choice if they helped to establish their compatriots in the land of God's choice. To settle in a land that would be theirs without the cost of conflict and sacrifice would be unfair. It would be a sin against the Lord and they must be reminded that their sin would find them out.
How Does This Apply To Us?
We also need to be reminded that sin which we may think is deeply hidden has a way of coming to the surface. We may hide it from ourselves in a frenzy of activity. We may disguise the cost and the pain of disobeying God. We may delude ourselves, supposing that others have a real problem while ours is not all that bad. We may excuse our minor weaknesses or indulge our simple follies, but if we do not let the Spirit of God expose those minor things, they can take root and grow into plants that become visible to all. ‘The Lord will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart’ (I Cor. 4:5).
Pray With Me
O Savi0r Lord, You came to ‘seek and to save that which was lost.’ Thank You, Lord, that there is no more need for hiding. The sin that finds me out has met its match and lies disarmed and dead. Christ, in the power of Your holy and pardoning love, You came to seek and save what was lost. Christ, You have found me out. I am defenseless before You. I will pretend no more that sm cannot find me out. I will admit it and own up to the verdict of guilt, but I will do more. I will admit the saving Lord to the throne of my heart. I will expose my whole being to the Sun of Righteousness, risen with healing in His wings. I will permit the Christ of love and wisdom to be the Lord of my conscience. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. Thanks be to God for the One who has found me out. I will not fear the sin that finds me out when I can so surely trust the Sav10r who has also found me out.
To the praise of the glory of His grace. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
In prayer, we find the light of God's searching truth. In prayer, God gives us a microscope to see potentially dangerous problems. In prayer, we acknowledge the truth and find it is in our hearts to repent. In prayer, we taste the joy and discover the freedom of forgiveness. In prayer, we find the greater truth that beyond the sin that will find us out there is the Savi0r whose love finds us out and lifts us up. In prayer, we are in touch with God who knows us best and loves us most.
