Tear down or touch up? Repair or replace? Keep or throw away? These are common questions we ask ourselves when dealing with broken things in our lives. My parent's generation grew up in time when most people could only touch up, repair, and keep because they didn't have the resources to tear down, throw away and replace. Now a days it seems as if the situation is completely reversed in that we can't touch up, repair, or keep anything. This is a great metaphor for our spiritual lives because there are some things that must be torn down, thrown away, and replaced.

When Israel was preparing to enter the Promised Land Moses told them that when they arrived certain things needed to be torn down, thrown away, and replaced. Specifically they were to destroy every idol, every temple, and every place where the pagan inhabitants had worshiped their false gods (Deuteronomy 12:1-3). Then they were to wait for God to reveal His chosen worship site as the sole replacement for the ones they had destroyed (12:5-7). Failure to obey would be an insulting self-willed act of rebellion against God (12:8).

Of course it's the sin in our lives that must be torn down, thrown away and replaced. Every sin is a self-willed act of self-worship, and every single one is insulting to God. Whether it is our own ways of "worship" that do not come from God's word, or our rejection of God entirely to go chasing after the world, both are rebellion against God. God's warning to Israel is worth hearing again: "Do not do...what is right in your own eyes" (12:8). So let's get busy finding the sin in our lives to tear it down, throw it away and replace it with obedience to God.