Little by Little
Today’s Bible Reading: EXODUS 22:16-24:18
Exodus 23:29-30
I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.
Most of us wonder why we continue to struggle with the same sin long after our conversion. Why does it linger, day after day haunting us, holding us captive to its impulses? We wish that we could defeat it and move on, but we can’t. We don’t understand why it remains and why the Lord hasn’t removed it. Yet, He has His purposes, His reasons.
The children of Israel were heading into hostile territory. They were redeemed from bondage only to be heading into battle. The land that God had given them was inhabited. It was occupied by various tribal groups who had become deeply entrenched in their land. They had been squatters for over 400 years, developing strength and strongholds throughout the land.
God could eliminate them with one clean sweep, like He had done to the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. But He chose to remove them “little by little’. His reasoning was simple. Removal without replacement would be counterproductive. The inability of the Israelites to quickly occupy the land and establish a foothold would leave parts of the land desolate and uncultivated. Allowing a myriad of beast to inhabit the land and endanger his people. Thus God, chose to remove the inhabitants from the occupied land slowly allowing the Israelites to become settled and strong.
This is a great analogy to the Christian life. At our conversion we experience an immediate change. We are transformed from death to life. From being alienated from God to being accepted by God. What we delighted in we now despise and what we despised we now delight in. As we draw closer to our Lord, we seek to destroy every stronghold of iniquity and dismantle every detestable sinful habit.
Yet, as we progress in our faith, we find the flesh is an entrenched foe. We want to be done with every bastion of sin, but it battles on. We fight to avoid disillusionment and despair. But like the Israelites, the Lord knows that a quick removal could lead to disastrous results. He understands that as we grow and progress in our pursuit of Him, our sinful desires will diminish. Their strongholds will begin to crumble as we become strengthened in our faith. They must be removed “little by little” so we can establish spiritual principles to replace them. In this way, our “land’ is not left desolate and unoccupied creating an environment for the fleshly trait to return and terrorize us once again.
Today rejoice that the Lord removes the enemies of your soul “little by little”. Thank Him that as you grow in godliness your delight for him increases and your desire for sin diminishes. Ask Him to continue to do his work of sanctification in you through the power and presence of His indwelling Spirit . . . removing all that opposes Him “little by little”.
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