Splinters and Thorns

"55 But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live."
Numbers 33:55 (NLT)

Dear Christian, these warnings to the children of Israel should be heeded by us as well.  God has given us wise instruction for life and godliness, but failure to walk in those good works brings much suffering.  I don’t think any of us would choose to have splinters in our eyes or thorns in our sides, but that is exactly what we need in our lives to remind us to get back on the straight and narrow path when we allow even the smallest of sins to take root in our hearts.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that your eyes have been blinded by the splinters of sin and you have been crippled by the thorns of disobedience, than I urge you to go to the One who gives sight to the blind and causes the lame to walk.  If you are willing to turn from sin’s dark shadow into God’s marvelous light than go and confess it to the One who is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  Call out to God as John Wesley did in times past when he wrote the words:

Jesus loves you still and He awaits your return from the pigpen of sin. 
May the God of all mercy keep your foot from stumbling.

Anchored in Christ,
Aaron R. Force