Trouble in your own backyard

Trouble in Your Own Backyard

"But if you don't drive out the native population, everyone you let stay there will become a cinder in your eye and a splinter in your foot. They'll give you endless trouble right in your own backyards." (Numbers 33:55)

This passage carries deep truths hidden in plain sight. Let’s unpack them one at a time.

God gave this instruction to the children of Israel as they prepared to occupy the land He had promised them. To fully take possession, they were commanded to drive out every native inhabitant—those who had lived in the land before them.

Spiritually, this speaks to our old nature before we gave our lives to Christ. God calls us to die to our “old man” and put on the “new man.”

"And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." (Ephesians 4:24 KJV)
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature..." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

If we do not remove this “native population”—our old self—it will be an endless source of trouble in our spiritual backyard. Whatever we allow to remain from our old life—old habits, old beliefs, old ways of thinking—will continue to trip us up.

The text is clear: if these things remain, it is because we let them. And what we permit from the old life will not only irritate like a cinder in the eye or a splinter in the foot, but will also cause constant, unnecessary trouble.

We cannot afford to let remnants of the old life remain. Drive them out completely and let Christ alone reign in your life.

Good day,
Have a great day today,
Dr. Emmanuel Okoro,
(aka Dr. Lift)

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