pieces and ponderings

My father has spent most of his life involved in business of some sort, whether it was managing part of a family manufacturing plant, or managing someone else’s company or owning his own business, business was his chosen occupation.  When I was very young, my father was also involved in the local government of the small town we lived in; serving on the city council and then as mayor for several years.  My father always had a lot of meetings to attend and work to do and it seemed to me that all of those meetings and all of that work was serious stuff…serious business.

I’ve been reading about another kind of business as I read through the book of Joshua in the Bible…serious business…very serious business…and very costly business.  The last couple of days, I’ve been reading in Joshua chapters 7 and 8.  This is right after Joshua had led the Israelites to defeat the city ofJerichoin an amazing victory; verse 27 of Joshua chapter 6 reads, “So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.”

God was keeping His promise of delivering the Promised Land to His children…everything was in their favor…nothing could stop them…or could it?  Here comes the serious part.  When the Israelite army moved on to attack the next enemy, the smaller city of Ai, Joshua thought that surely a smaller number of troops would be required.  After the miraculous and stunning victory atJericho, the Israelite army was routed by the smaller army of Ai.  The fighting men of Ai chased the Israelites from their city and killed 36 of them…and “the hearts of the people melted and became like water.” (Joshua 7:5)

What had happened?  What went wrong?  What was God doing anyway?  When Joshua prayed to God to find out what was going on, he received a startling revelation: Israelhad sinned.

Someone in the camp had disobeyed the LORD’s command in regard to the plunder gathered in the battle ofJericho.  God had told them that everything within the city ofJerichowas to go into the treasury of the Lord.  Someone had disagreed with this command and had decided to take a few things for himself.  A man named Achan would be found out to be the culprit and the consequences would be severe…for him…and for his family.  They would all die for Achan’s disobedience.

Those were such severe consequences…maybe seemingly too extreme.  What was the big deal anyway?  I don’t know.  I was just reminded in reading this account in Scripture that sin is serious business….really serious.  I don’t have to understand everything about why God’s commands are what they are…He is God and I am not.  I just need to recognize that God’s principles and His ways are holy and going against them may have consequences that I don’t get to choose…and those consequences may be extremely painful for me and for those around me…those I love.

I’m very thankful for God’s mercy and His grace and His forgiveness that covers my sin.  I’m thankful for His knowledge that understands me through and through and His compassion that is new for me every day of my life.  But, sin is still an affront to Him and as I make choices every day…today…I need to remember that sin is serious business.