Numbers 33:55-56
“‘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. And I’ll start treating you the way I planned to treat them.’”
“‘But, if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live. And I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.’”
God speaks to Israel on the eve of their entry into Canaan. In just 40 years he has given them a culture that will last for millennia. He has told them to destroy everything Canaanite, even very small things like a cinder or splinter. Which of these irritants have I allowed to gain a hold in my life, sapping the vitality of my faith? They are small and easily overlooked but potent in their effect.
Lord open my eyes.