And you shall make no
covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.”
But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also
said, “I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side,
and their gods shall be a snare to you.” Judges 2:2-3
God gave the Israelites
specific instructions: Drive the Canaanites out of every corner of the land,
and obliterate any vestige of their abominable idol worship. This assignment
was challenging! Their enemies had formidable chariots. The Canaanites had
seemingly impregnable fortresses that were dangerous and difficult to overcome.
The Israelites failed to drive all the Canaanites from the land. Much about the
Canaanite lifestyle and religion appealed to the Israelites’ sinful nature.
Rather than destroying them and their idolatry, Israel compromised. The
Canaanites would prove to be a troublesome distraction to the Israelites. Their
idol worship would present a constant temptation.
When you became a
Christian, God declared war on sin’s strongholds in your life. Sinful behaviors
and attitudes were firmly entrenched in your character, but God commanded you
to tear them down. The Holy Spirit pointed out areas of your life that were
resistant to God’s will. Were you tempted to merely establish a truce rather
than obliterating every sin? Is anger one of sin’s strongholds? If so, it will
rise up against you in moments of weakness. Is there a stronghold of lust in
your life? If so, you will succumb to it when caught off guard. In careless
moments, these strongholds will still tempt you to continue your past sinful
behaviors.
Do not underestimate the
destructive power of sin. If there are strongholds in your life that you have
never defeated, the Holy Spirit is still prepared to bring you complete
victory.
The weapons we fight with are not the
weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself
up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
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