“For Samaria’s plague is incurable; It has spread to Judah. It has reached the very gate of my people, even to Jerusalem itself.”
During the Civil War, we read about what happened after the battles. The heroic conquests of General Grant and General Lee are legendary. A few times, we even mention what happened after those heroic battles. Wounded men stretched as far as you could see. The field doctors worked feverishly to bind up the broken and wounded, as well as keep the terminally injured as comfortable as possible. Unattended wounds become gangrene, and those wounds seem to devour the healthy tissue around them until something has to be done: amputation. Better to save the person and lose a leg than to treat the incurable and watch it take the patient’s life.
Samaria was the capital of the northern tribes of Israel. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah. Micah was a prophet during the reign of the last kings of the Israelite nation. Micah writes a message from the Lord forewarning the people that their sin has reached unbearable levels, habitually embracing the debauchery of their northern neighbors.
While prophets like Isaiah and Micah repeatedly warned of the cost of sin, the people of Israel grew to a place where they did not care at all. In fact, the Lord spoke through Micah and said that Samaria’s plague of sin was incurable and that it had spread to Judah. Have you ever had a doctor tell you that what you have is incurable? Moreover, is this thing that is plaguing your body self-induced? Doctors have to make life-and-death decisions every day. Some things are incurable.
You may be reading this and saying, “Wow, what a morbid tone for our loving devotional today.” If we don’t confront sin, it will fester and become something you cannot hide. If untreated, you may start to alter your life and avoid those people who would point out this issue. You may start to hang around those who pacify your sin with phrases like, “It’s your choice,” or, “You do you, man,” or, “Everybody needs a little help.” This behavior will only get worse until your sin becomes a life-altering wound that grows and destroys healthy parts of your life and the lives of those around you.
The Civil War doctors knew that gangrene would kill the wounded soldier, and sometimes the leg would have to be taken off to prevent death. Unattended sin will always fester into a wound that will take over your life. The good news is that Jesus says submitting yourself to Him is the only way to become completely clean. How do you confront sin? You introduce a weapon that can kill it. His name is Jesus.
Prayer: Father, help me choose the only medicine that will cure all of my sin, Jesus. I pray that I get to know Him every day and commit my life to a relationship with Him that will clean me out and heal me of all my sinful habits and ungodly behaviors. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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