When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan , you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land . Destroy all their stone and metal idols and all their places of worship … but if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land , those that are left will be as troublesome as splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides and they will fight against you ~ Numbers 33:51-51 , 55
God commanded the children of Israel to drive out all the inhabitants of the land of Canaan . Allowing these people to live among them would be fatal , God had warned . They would become obstacles in their lives thereby limiting their growth , expansion and worse still drawing them away from their God and true worship .
An inhabitant is someone or thing who lives in a place . This means they are settled , and are a part and parcel of that particular place . Some of the things we have experienced in our lives have become ' inhabitants '. They ' ve taken over our minds and hearts and we , in turn , have accommodated them , meaning that we ' ve allowed them to become a part and parcel of us . We may feel comfortable and think they are harmless , but they are not . The enemy uses them as a weapon to fight against us . He uses them to hold us back , keep us in bondage , hold us captive and prevent us from progressing . Not only that , God warns that failure to destroy them as He has commanded will lead to our own destruction . This is the reason why we have to shake off the old and embrace the new . The word says that anyone in Christ Jesus is a new creation – the old is gone , the new has come . You cannot become a new person when you keep embracing your past . Let it go . It ’ s a battle that ’ s worth fighting and in Christ Jesus , victory is guaranteed .
I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect . I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to Himself . Of course , my brothers and sisters , I really do not think that I have already won it ; the one thing I do , however , is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead . So I run straight towards the goal in order to win the prize , which is God ’ s call through Christ Jesus to the life above ~ Philippians 3:12-14 .
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