Caaninites?



Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, "I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you." Judges 2:1-3

I don't want to leave any Caaninites in my life. What implications does this scripture have for us? Well, I was brought out of Egypt about seven years ago. I'm truly thankful that the Lord has promised not to break his covenant with me, but it should be disturbing to any Christian to know that if we "make covenants with the inhabitants of the land," that God assures us he will NOT drive them out before us. This is why Jesus told us to cut off our hand if it offends us. Why do we expect God to miraculously cure us of certain sin, but allow ourselves into compermising situations that make us vulnerable to sin? This is not cutting off the hand. When we allow certain things in our life that we know hinder us, they become thorns in our sides. When we do all things necessary to "break down the altars," God's power and grace flows through us in a supernatural way that we can't explain.

Entertainment of thoughts is one example. A year or two ago, I was counseling someone in my small group and used this scripture:

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ... 2 Corinthians 10:5

Later that night, actually it could have been later that week, a dear Christian Lady(who happens to my best friend) gave me her take on that verse because it had been an important verse to her in her walk. She's far more descriptive than I am, so I'll paraphrase what she told me. She compared the battlefeild of the mind to a host at a party. When a guest of the baser sort arrives, the host has some options. The host can say that it is ok for the sorted charecter to stay as long as they don't cause a problem. On the Other hand, the host can simply grab the unwanted guest by the seat of the pants and throw them out the door. If the former is observed, the guest will eventually cause problems and become a thorn in the side, all the while making it more difficult to get rid of him. Sure it's possible to gain victory, but it is far more difficult than if the latter option had been taken. If the latter option is observed and the worm is promptly tossed out, then that joker had absolutly no effect on the party. In a moment's time, he will have been forgoten and the host will have no consequences of broken glasses, destroyed furniture or offended friends. The host can face the rest of her guests with no shame or nothing she has to apologize for.