But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. Numbers 32 23 when the Israelites were preparing to cross the Jordan river to take possession of the land of Canaan that had been promised to them by God as their inheritance from him, two tribes, the Reubenites and the Gadites, asked permission to remain on the east side of the river to establish homes in that land. An agreement was made that these tribes would be allowed to do so as long as they first crossed the Jordan and helped the remaining tribes settle into the land of Canaan. The two tribes promised they would do so, and Moses gave them stern warning. Do this, he told them, and you will be blessed with prosperity and long life. But fail to do so and you will be sinning not only against your brothers, but also against the Lord, and your sin will be your downfall. Making promises you do not keep is like building a trap and then falling into the trap yourself. Several years after helping invent radar, Robert Watt was caught in a radar trap and he was given a speeding ticket. He wrote the following poem, pity Sir Robert Watson Watt, strange target of his radar plot, and this with others I could mention, a victim of his own invention when we pledge allegiance to the Lord, we need to be faithful to do and be all that we have promised. Faithfulness is met with reward, while broken promises are met with punishment. The Reubenites and the Gadites kept their promise to help the other ten tribes settle into the land of Canaan. As a result, they were successful in building homes in the land on the other side of the river. People ever since have discovered that sin and broken boughs come back to bite them. Marriages, families, businesses, and even churches are destroyed by our failure to keep our promises to each other and to God. The point here is simply you can run, but you cannot hide from God. He knows what you do, he knows where you live, and he knows how to find you. As Moses said, you may be sure that your sin will find you out.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to dailythoughtspodcastmail.com dot. Have a great day and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as Pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.