I saw…coveted…took…hid

“When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.” - Joshua 7v21

The source of Israel’s sin and resulting defeat at Ai had been discovered. A man of Judah, Achan had been found out and was confronted by Joshua. Achan made a full disclosure of how the sin had happened and there were four steps to his sin.

I saw the garment, silver, and gold

I coveted them

I took them

I hid them

God has graciously given us here a pattern to watch out for. Not only were these steps to Achan’s sin. But they are steps to all of our sins as well. We see something, we desire it, we take it, and we then try to hide our sin.

Sometimes we can help what we see, but there are times when we cannot. However, the next step is where we too often “blow it.” After we see something, we covet it. This is where the sin really starts. But even then it is not too late to deal with the sin and ask God’s forgiveness. The next step is where we really fail, we take what we want, then the natural next step is to hide our sin.

We cannot keep your sin hidden forever. “Be sure your sin will find you out,” God says. Lets keep our eyes open for the warnings signs on the road to sin and seek God’s help in avoiding the dangerous steps.