Rotten Things

Numbers 33: 52, 55

52 “drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.”

55 ” But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you live.  And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.”

Have you ever gone to the pantry and taken the bread out, excited to make a sandwich, only to find that the bread was moldy? Or poured a bowl of cereal and begun to pour the milk, only to find out it is bad and blobs out like loose oatmeal? Following your disappointment, you quickly discard the bad milk and throw away the moldy bread because you know you will get sick if you eat it. Imagine not knowing this and going ahead and ingesting the bad bread or milk, getting sick, and wondering why you are sick. This sounds silly because we all know when things go bad, they either stink or are visibly different, causing us to throw them out.

Many Christians today are walking through life ingesting the rotten things of the world and getting sick and wondering why. These two verses remind us that we are to get rid of the worldly idols and toxic relationships before us. Verse 55 gives us a doctor’s report of the symptoms of this sickness: “will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your side.”

How long will you knowingly keep these idols and relationships around? Destroy the idols that don’t belong to Christ in your life and purposely end the toxic relationships that are in your life today. Our Christian lives only become healthy once we notice and stay clear of those things that the world puts on a pedestal.

The Bible says that we are in the world but not of the world, so our passions should never be grounded in worldly things. Today, remind yourself that you are a citizen of Heaven, purchased at a price, and that you become healthy only when your life diet revolves around Christ.

Prayer: Father, open our eyes to the idols we are holding onto and the toxic relationships, and help us drive them away. If faith without works is dead, then let us constantly be working on our faith in You by obeying Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, amen.