Destroying Sin

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him.  But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.  In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished.  – Judges 6:27-28.

Would you say that right now that there is a particular sin in your life that is keeping you from God’s best?  Are you doing like the Israelites were doing and letting the enemy rob you?  Do you feel powerless to stop the enemy?  The Israelites did.  Many people today do as well.

Hardly anyone will flat out admit that they sin.  Right now, most Christians will only half-heartedly admit that they have “made some mistakes” or say something incredibly obvious like “I’m not perfect.”  All of these “admissions” simply give the person a license to keep doing what is usually a “pet sin” in their lives.  Mistakes need to be corrected, but sins need to be forgiven.  I believe most Christians get stuck and never become mature Christians because they don‘t realize that not only do sins need to be forgiven, they need to be destroyed.

God’s people were actually offering sacrifices to Baal in hopes that he would provide crops for them.  So of course God allowed the Amalekites to come raid them and of course God told Gideon “if I am going to intervene, that altar has got to go.“  I kind of like the fact that Gideon obeyed God at night and out of everyone’s sight.  I remember destroying my foul mouth and annihilating my altars of lust, greed, and selfishness.  Like Gideon, I did it with only God and a few close friends knowing about it.  Destroying those altars was difficult and I did wonder what people would think about me, but the freedom that came along with it was just unbelievable.  I absolutely never want to go back to that filth.

Destroying unholy altars not only changes you, but it changes the environment wherever you go.  In the morning when the men got up, they found Baal’s altar destroyed.  People will notice when you destroy your altars as well.  For some reason, people don’t like seeing people free from bondage.  My old friends quickly asked me why I wasn’t cussing anymore.  They quickly asked me why I wasn’t playing the old music that I used to listen to.  They often wondered why my Bible was starting to look worn, like I was actually reading it.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had destroyed some unholy altars and the renewal process of my mind had begun.  Even though I didn’t have the guts to take a bold, public stand for Christ, people noticed that the altars had been destroyed.  That is when a lot of my old crowd no longer invited me to certain events.  It stunk for a while, but I eventually made new friends who had destroyed some altars of Baal in their own lives and wanted to live like God wanted them to live.  It began this new journey of faith and trust in Christ that has been so wonderful.  I hope it never ends.

Evaluate the sin in your life, not mistakes, not imperfections, but sin.  Make sure you call it what it is.  Be brutally honest and go through the sins that you are absolutely aware that you do.  Then, do like Gideon and destroy you some altars.  If the sin is pre-marital sex, fight to never be alone with your partner until you get married…destroy Baal’s altar.  If the problem is that you fill your mind with the f-word and other garbage through movies, music and media…destroy those altars.  Get rid of it.  It has all got to go because it is keeping you from God’s best.  If you can’t get on the computer without looking at some pornographic trash, then your computer has got to go, it is simply an altar that you use to worship Baal.  Take drastic measures…it is worth it.

I know this sounds extreme in our so-called “tolerant“ society.  I just want to let you know that in my mind I see those Amalekites just coming in and taking the crops of the Israelites along with whatever else they wanted.  God admittedly was standing on the sidelines refusing to intervene because the people had built those altars to Baal.  I refuse to allow God take His hand off of my life simply because I am chasing other lovers and sharing my affection with other gods!

If you say you are a Christian, you need to understand that God does not let you share your affection any more than a husband allows his wife to be shared by other lovers.  Like any person in love, He gets hurt and He gets angry when one He loves gives themselves repeatedly to another.  Lest we forget…He is a jealous God!  Why in the world would we want to provoke Him?

Do whatever you have to do today to let God know He is #1 in your life.  If He is not in His rightful place, you are being robbed.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  — Hebrews 12:1-2

Later

Adam