Eternal Cleanser

Read Numbers 31-33
 
Numbers 33:51-52 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52 drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.’”
 
WHAT do you do when you move into a new house? Generally, you clean out your old house, remove what you don’t need and take only the “essentials” to the new house. You then clean the new home and take precautions to keep the dirt out. God’s people were about to move into their new house. The Promised Land was ahead. For 40 years God had been teaching Israel how to clean their house – to know God’s goodness. Now God specifically instructed them to cleanse the new land. The Promise Land is not perfect. It needs to be cleansed. The Holy God commands his people to resist and remove the evil they will find.
    It’s easy to get dirty, isn’t it? Dust gathers on our shoes everywhere we go. We walk outside in the rain, slip in a puddle, and we are dirty. Food spills on a clean shirt. Regardless of how new your house is, dirt moves in with you. That’s why we keep clean cloths ready.
    The LORD God warns Israel to be constant about cleaning away evil. They have his cleaning equipment. His law, his commands and his promises are readily available to keep a clean, soul-healthy home.  
    In a like manner, Jesus commanded the Jews to be clean. Luke 11:39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?”
    Sometimes the dirt is so small, nearly invisible, we barely see it. Other times, it is always around us, and we become blind to it. It is good, then, to have a regular time to notice the dirt and sweep it away. Trust Gods tools – his law, his commands, his promises, his grace, his forgiveness, his love and his Spirit – to keep you clean each day and forever.   
 
Good Cleaning Tools: Confession, Humility, Forgiveness, Prayer, Worship: