But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it (Jos 6:18, BSB).
To give ourselves fully to God, we must surrender all that separates us from Him. The Saviour states, “Anyone of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” Without placing Christ first, victory is impossible. If Christ does not hold the highest position in our hearts, we cannot overcome.
Before the fall of Jericho, Joshua instructed the army that everything in the city was “devoted” or dedicated to the Lord for destruction. Taking any of these devoted items would turn the plunder into an “accursed thing,” leading to disaster and God’s judgment.
Paul warns early Christians not to be misled into thinking that living in sinful lifestyles is compatible with their fellowship with God. They must avoid certain behaviors that hinder inheriting the Kingdom of God. He says emphatically that keeping in these will lead to their destruction and deny them their inheritance. “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, BSB).
Anything that draws the heart away from God must be surrendered. We cannot be half the Lord’s and partly with the world. We are truly God’s children only when we are fully committed. Through both visible and unseen influences, our Saviour continually seeks to turn our minds from the fleeting pleasures of sin to the eternal blessings available in Him. He urges us to keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest we ourselves be set apart for destruction: “Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper” (Proverbs 23:31-32, BSB). “A prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well. Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men” (Proverbs 23:27-28, BSB). “He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich” (Proverbs 21:17, BSB). “Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings” (Proverbs 31:3, NHEB).
The love, suffering, and death of the Son of God all testify to the severity of sin and affirm that true salvation from its power and access to a higher life only come through surrendering the soul to Christ.
