Determine the Outcome of Sin, Not

Before the Lord brought the wall of Jericho tumbling down in Joshua 6, he instructed Joshua, "But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury." God clearly stated this to Joshua; however, Achan chose not to follow God's instructions. He allowed greed to win out. If only, he had stayed away from the "devoted things." If only, he hadn't entertained the thought of sin. If only, he had treated the things of God as sacred. I'm sure we can come up with quite a few "if onlys." Achan chose to do the wrong thing for so little and missed out on a windfall blessing. He acted on his temptation. Achan stole the "devoted things" of the Lord even after God warned them "...to keep away from them so that they don't bring about their own destruction by taking them." It cost him all that he had... his life and the lives of his family. He brought about his own destruction. With his own hands, he essentially killed himself. Greed caused him to oppose God. Not only did he steal, he stole from God, the very one who led the Israelites out of Egypt in a supernatural way and into the Promise Land. He stole what belonged to God, and it brought death for him, his family, and for the Israelites as well. His sin caused 36 Israelites to be killed and ran off by King Ai's men. This sin that Achan by himself chose to commit effected everyone. Achan, his sons and daughters, and his animals were stoned to death and then their remains were burned. The cost of his sin was so much bigger than he ever could have possibly imagined. Christians can't rationalize sin and say, "Well, yes I did steal, but I really didn't take that much. It really wasn't that serious." We can't determine the outcome of our sin. When we sin, we can't possibly know what doors we are opening, but we must know the results will not be good. They can't be. I know someone may be thinking, "But that wasn't my sin. I didn't take what belonged to God, so I'm straight." Wrong, you're not. Romans 6:23 plainly states, "The wages of sin is death..." Sin brings death, period. Whatever the sin may be, it ultimately leads to destruction. Achan lost his life, his family's lives, his reputation, his livestock, and the lives of the 36 Israelites over a robe, 200 shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold. He was blinded by greed. He stole from God. How could that possibly have ended happily? He was so blinded that he missed the big picture. God had already announced the Israelites victory in battle. They were going to take possession of the land that God had already given to them. How could Achan have not been blessed by this? All he had to do was be patient. God had already said that the Israelites would be blessed if they were obedient, but he just couldn't wait. Impatience and greed cost him so much more than I'm sure he would have been willing to pay. If only he had held out, because in the Israelites very next conquest, the Lord said they could keep the plunder and livestock. That meant all the riches they came across they could keep. He allowed himself to be blinded by the little that he missed the big picture. He served a rich God. He didn't have to go and steal as though God didn't provide for him. He could have been deceived into believing that if he just stole a little bit that no one would know. He could have reasoned away his sin by thinking that the amount that he stole was so minor in comparison to what was left that his theft was no big deal. He could have thought that no one would even miss it. He could have just complied. His sin stopped him from receiving the benefits of the Promise Land. I don't have to wonder, "Was it worth it?" We know the answer to that.