Numbers 32,33

33:55 "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in you eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live."

The Israelites are warned to obey God's command fully or they will bear the consequences later.

What is of concern here is complete submission to God's plan for our lives. I see in this a metaphor for the life of the Christian and command to continually drive sin out of our lives. While we won't achieve perfection on this side of glory, we are to be making headway continuously in the battle against sin.

Sometimes we harbor a little corner of our heart and pretend God won't mind if we hang on to that sin. Most of the time these are bad habits that we know will take work to weed out. Rather than beseech the Lord for the strength and resources to carry out His will, we decide we'll focus on other areas and leave the bad habit alone. Maybe we'll try to fool ourselves with some rationalization that the sin isn't that bad, or isn't really sin at all!

We should heed the warning that if left unattended, that sin will become "pricks in our eyes and thorns in our sides."

Lord, help me to seek out sin in my life, repent of it, and seek Your help in preventing it from coming back. Help me to detest sin as You do. Help me to submit to Your will fully and not half-heartedly.