“Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.”
Joshua 7:24
And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.
Numbers 16:27
And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”
And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
Nehemiah 9:26
“Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies. Therefore you gave them into the hand of their enemies
Numerous times the sins of the fathers affect their families and children. Achan coveted material goods and all he had was destroyed. Imagine the last thoughts he had as he watched his family being stoned and burned. When we covet our wants and desires over God there are not only affects on us but on our family as well. Dads, moms – take a look at your heart, mind, and soul – what time is spent on your personal desires and what time is spent on growing desires of and for God? How much time is spent searching for that next thing to satisfy our wants? Trust me when I say this is so easy to fall into. We are saturated with our culture telling us we work hard and that our time away from work is ours to do pleasing us. This seems correct when we think about all that is said concerning work life balance. I do know from past experience that nothing of this world will give lasting satisfaction it is all temporary. The only thing that will give us lasting peace, joy, hope, love, and purpose is to seek first the kingdom of God, desiring to know Him – hear Him – obey Him more and more each day. Our purpose this side of eternity is to live to honor and glorify Him alone. Keep Him first!!!
