Cost of your sin.

The Fear of the Lord is something that I do not have enough of and I also
see that many other Christians struggle with it as well. The way I see it
in others, is that there are many that are living in willful disobedience
to God's word in one way or another, and I believe that if the consequences
for their sin were to be paid immediately and in a way that made an impact
on society, there would be a lot more obedience. In the Book of Joshua ,
the people of Israel walked across the Jordan river on dry ground, took the
city of Jericho all by the Lord's leading. There were simple instructions
after taking Jericho. *Joshua 6:18 And you, by all means abstain from the
accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed
things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.* The was one
man, Achan, who after being caught confessed, *Joshua 7:21 When I saw among
the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver,
and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them.
And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the
silver under it.”*Because of Achan's sin, 36 men lost there lives in the
battle of Ai. Achan and all of his family and possessions were stoned and
burned. For me, the worst part of it, was that shame was brought upon the
Lord because of selfishness and pride. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Discernment
is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the
difference between right and almost right.” Brethren, may we remember that
we can choose our sin, but we cannot choose our consequences. And most
times, our sin will cost those that we love and care about more than it
will cost us.

Douglas