Are You Taxing Your Canaanites?

Judges 1:28 "And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites under tribute, but did not completely drive them out."

It is easy to develop a tolerance of sin. We excuse our pet sins. We even "sanctify" them as a benefit and blessing in our lives. We label them "coping strategies." We depend upon them for stress relief. And we hit the "Repeat" button in our souls.

The Hebrews struggled with the same thing. God miraculously delivered them from Egyptian slavery. Moses led them through the Red Sea, toward the promised land, gave them the law of God, and brought them to the portal of Canaan, the land of promise. Then Moses died.

Joshua was God's chosen leader for the Hebrew conquest of Canaan. God performed another miracle clearing a path through the flooded Jordan River. Circumcision at Gilgal, victory at Jericho, and the conquest began in earnest.

At the end of his life, Joshua praised God for fulfilling every promise and granting the Hebrews occupation of the entire land of Canaan, just as He had promised.

"So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. 44 The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass." (Joshua 21:43-45)

But there was a problem. The Hebrews failed to drive out all of the Canaanites. In doing so, they disobeyed God. The sex and religion cults of the Canaanites worship had caused God to declare that the Canaanites had so defiled the land, that they no longer were entitled to occupy it. Rather than exterminate them as God commanded, the Hebrews confined their Canaanite neighbors to villages and taxed them.

"Why obey God completely when we can turn these folks into a revenue stream?"

But the Canaanites were influential. They influenced the Hebrews with sex. The Canaanite gods, Baal and Asherah, demanded sex for worship. Sex with priests. Sex with priestesses. Sex with other Canaanites. Even sex with Hebrews. Everybody knows that "Sex sells." It did then. It does now.

The Hebrews taxed the Canaanites so that they could profit from the sex trade. The only problem was that the sexy Canaanite worship would destroy them.

They taxed the Canaanites.

Are you taxing the Canaanites of your life? Are there areas where God has said, "Exterminate these practices." Rather than occupying the land of promise, you are preserving enclaves of carnality. You may even be turning these enclaves into a revenue stream. 

Obey God. Taxing the Canaanites has never worked out very well. 

Expand Your Borders!

Joshua 19:40-48 NKJV  40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. 41 And the territory of their inheritance was Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, 42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Jethlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, 46 Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the region near Joppa. 47 And the border of the children of Dan went beyond these, because the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem and took it; and they struck it with the edge of the sword, took possession of it, and dwelt in it. They called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father. 48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

My Lord and my God,

I want to be a man after Your own heart. A man who hears Your call and obeys. I want to obey without reluctance, hesitation, or argument. I want to accomplish the task that You put before me, by Your grace and for Your glory.

The Hebrew tribe of Dan took an ambitious and aggressive attitude toward Your call to possess their portion of the land of Canaan. Joshua apportioned their land to them and gave the mandate of conquest. The children of Dan conquered the city of Leshem, the greatest city of their promised land. Upon conquering it, they renamed the city Dan, after their forefather.

But Your Word describes a spirit among the tribesmen of Dan that went above and beyond the call of duty. “The border of the children of Dan went beyond these.” Dan’s fighting men pushed their border beyond the promised allocation. Their ambition drove them farther.

I love the spirit of the tribe of Dan. I love the attitude to excel, to do more, to achieve, to push harder and go farther. Unvarnished and selfish ambition is dangerous. Sanctified ambition is beautiful.

Lord, grant me a spirit of ambition and achievement to accept Your mandate for my life and run with it. Give me courage to expand my borders beyond the limits. Grant me strength, boldness, and enthusiasm for the task.

In the Name of my Lord Jesus,

Amen.

"I have to find myself"

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Dietrich Bonhoeffer felt stripped bare in a German prison. It was late in World War II when your servant was suffering in bondage, eventually condemned to death by hanging.  Prison gave him countless hours to think, write, and reflect. Certainly, your presence sustained him in those unending hours. 

From prison, Bonhoeffer wrote: "There is something more at stake than self-knowledge."

I can only imagine the self-reflection, personal insights, and psychological explanations for one's own identity, thoughts and behaviors that could be pursued in isolation. But it could prove utterly maddening. Yet, Bonhoeffer was not alone. You were with him. His writings expose his soul, his worship, and his surrender to your cross.

It seems that the individualism of the Western world has poisoned our thoughts with a narcissistic reflection that the individual is the center of the universe. The result is that billions of egocentric universes ridiculously revolve on the orb of our planet, each insisting upon its own veracity and authenticity.

But Bonhoeffer, a man of extraordinary self-knowledge and insight, proclaims: "There is something more at stake than self-knowledge."

The ancient Greeks proclaimed: "Know thyself."

The 1960's marked an era of American Baby Boomers seeking self-knowledge in an elusive quest to "find" themselves.

But, "There is something more at stake than self-knowledge."

Ultimately, my quest to know myself is a quest to find myself, and proves to be a wasted effort of self-definition. Definition demands an external point of reference.

You, alone, are that point of reference. You are my Creator, my God, my Savior, the One who knows me best. You know my failings, my weakness, my sin, yet You love me and seek to redeem my life. You seek to inform my identity at a depth that You alone know and understand. You seek to redefine my very perception of myself, not by looking at me more, but by turning my eyes to look upon You! Only in right relationship with You, may I discover who You intend me to become!

Hallelujah!

What hope! What joy! What promise!

So I turn afresh to You, Designer of my life, Master Architect of my purpose. Fulfill me in You.

In the Name of the One who knows me best, Abba Father,

Amen.