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Jun 21, 2022 18:30pm

What Needs to be Removed?

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He wasn’t coming home.

At first, it was hard to understand. He had been in the program for a while now, he was sober, and he was doing much better. But as time passed, he got a job at the center and was doing well. More time passed and he moved up to a better job and then another. Pretty soon, we had to realize that 3204 E Moore Ave. was his new address.

My dad had spent years with the same crowd. Partying just about every night, couldn’t hold down a job and always up for a beer with a buddy when they stopped by. This place he called home was connected to his addiction. He couldn’t come back home.

In order to stay sober, he had to rid himself of all of those people and places that tempted him. If he returned, he would be right back in the mess he was in to begin with. All those people had to be completely removed to keep temptation away.

Numbers 33:50-56

“And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.” (Numbers 33:50-56)

The Lord commanded the children of Israel to conquer the land of Canaan and drive out all the inhabitants. He also said to get rid of any sign that they lived there. Anything they worshipped, any image or picture or statue, get rid of it. And most of all, the people. Why? Because those people did not follow God and they would lure the Israelites into sin. They would continuously be a problem. They had to be completely removed to keep temptation away. The people, as God knew, were easily swayed.

What have you allowed to stay in your life that keeps luring you away from God? Now is the time to remove it, completely. Not for a time, but permanently. If it continues to cause you to sin it has to go.

Lord, help us to see with your eyes the things in our life that need to be removed. Give us the strength to let go of them and fully rely on you as we remove it. Lead us on the path to righteousness, away from the trail of temptation and sin! Forgive us, Father, for putting those things before you!