They had done it. It was a miracle. A miracle no one had seen before. All they did was march around the city walls for seven days. On the seventh day, they circled seven times and then blew their trumpets. The walls fell, and the city was theirs.

There was only one stipulation. Just one. Everything in this first city had to be devoted to God.

They had waited for hundreds of year, stories passed down from generation to generation. Stories that told of a land promised to them by their God. Stories that said one day they would inherit this land of milk and honey. Stories that gave them hope through hundreds of years of slavery and 40 years of wandering in the desert.

Israel had just taken their first steps into the Promised Land and gained their first victory over the inhabitants there. The only condition: all the spoils go into the temple treasury.

It sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Yet temptation proves to be too much of a tantalizing mistress for one man.

Achan sees all the spoil around the city—there’s plenty to go around—and it become too much for him. Nobody will notice if I take just a little bit. Besides, I deserve this. I fought hard in this battle.

So he gives in and takes a little bit and hides it in his tent as they move on to the next city, Ai. Another easy victory except for the fact that God’s glory is no longer with Israel. Becaues of one man’s sin, God’s providence leaves Israel, and when they attack the next city, what shoudl have been an easy victory becomes a grave for 36 of Achan’s fellow soldiers. When Joshua finds out what Achan did, he and his family are killed in order to restore things to normal.

It’s easy to excuse our sins sometimes. It’s not that big a deal. Nobody else knows. It’s not hurting anyone else.

There’s always a price.

Sin separates us from God, sure. But it also separates us from each other and affects our relationships with other people. It may not be outright and obvious like the story of Achan, but it’s there. It creates a rift between us and those we are closest to. The worst part is that I usually happens so slowly and gradually that we don’t even notice it.

Fight against the temptation. Don’t buy in to the lies that it’s not a big deal. Our actions affect others. Don’t do unnecessary harm.