When you were young, you probably played hide and seek as a game; however many people continue to attempt to hide things throughout their lives.  Maybe they are hiding to escape something, or perhaps they are just trying to hide something that they are guilty of doing.  Today, we are going to look at a man named Achan and see what it was that he was attempting to hide, and how we can be guilty of hiding the same things.

And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. – Joshua 6:18

Achan took of the accursed thing and then attempted to hide it from everyone.  You may be able to hide from your friends, family, co-workers and everyone else, but you cannot hide from the Lord.

No-one knew what Achan had done; they just knew that the trouble that they were experiencing was because of him, which is why Joshua went to him:

And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
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 7:19-21

What is your accursed thing?

Worldly riches

For many people, their accursed thing is earthly riches.  That in part was Achans downfall.  He saw that beautiful garment, silver, and gold, and could not help himself.  He said that he saw, he coveted (or wanted) what he saw, and he took it.

The problem with worldly riches is that they will not last:

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. - 1 Timothy 6:7

You can work your entire life away, saving every spare nickel that you can; to make an excellent retirement for yourself, but you don’t have the promise that you will ever get the opportunity to enjoy those things (James 4:14).  Even if you can enjoy them, it will only be for a short amount of time.  Riches never last.

The next thing to remember about the things that this world provides is that they don’t satisfy either:

Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. - Haggai 1:5-6

No matter how much you can make and save, it will never be enough.  Worldly riches will never give you the satisfaction that you are looking to attain.

Possessions 

The possessions that you have, are a gift from God and are intended to be a blessing to you:

 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. - 1 Chronicles 29:12

 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. - Ecclesiastes 5:19

The Lord wants to give you gifts.  The possessions that you have are all gifts from the Lord.  The possessions in and of themselves are not the problem.  The issue arises when you place those possessions of more importance than the Lord and his cause.

If you are not careful, you risk allowing those possessions to turn your heart from God; therefore turning them from a blessing to the accursed thing:

But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. - 1 Timothy 6:9-10

Career

Pouring yourself into a job to gain riches and possessions is the accursed thing.  We are commanded in the Bible to work.  In multiple places, the Bible tells you that work is a good thing.  In fact, work is not part of the curse.  Notice that in Genesis the Lord had given Adam work to accomplish before he ever sinned.  We should work to provide for ourselves, we should work to provide for our families, and we should work to provide for others as well.

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. - 2 Thessalonians 3:10

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. - 1 Timothy 5:8

Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. - Ephesians 4:28

Just don’t allow your work to take the place of the Lord in your heart.  The Lord and his cause must always be priority number one.

Family

The Lord comes before your family as well.  If your family takes you away from the work of the Lord, then your family will become the accursed thing in your life.

Your family is intended to be a help and a blessing to you, but if they are not interested in the things of God, they can just as quickly become the accursed thing.

 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. - Luke 12:51-53

And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. - Luke 21:16-17

The Lord did not say that you can’t work with your family in the ministry; James and John worked together as Peter and Andrew, Barnabas and John Mark did.  Just make sure that you do not allow your family to pull you away from the work of the Lord.  If they do, they will become the accursed thing.

Things that the accursed thing will affect:

Stance on the Bible

If you have placed the accursed thing, (no matter what that may be), above the Lord Jesus Christ, your position on the Bible will suffer.

The Bible is our final authority for all matters of faith and practice.  Not just what we believe (faith) but the Bible is also our final authority for everything that we do (practice).

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. - Psalms 119:9

The word of God is the thing that will sanctify or clean you up:

For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. - 1 Timothy 4:5

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, - Ephesians 5:26

If you have regarded the accursed thing above the Lord, you will neglect the Bible, because the Bible will point out where you are wrong and will point out the fact that you need to get rid of the very thing in your life that you are holding dear to your heart.

Prayer

Your prayer life will also be affected if you have allowed the accursed thing to get in between you and the Lord.  As a Christian, you are commanded to pray:

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; - Ephesians 6:18

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. - Philippians 4:6

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: - Colossians 4:2-3

The Lord has given you two different methods to communicate with him on a personal level;  His word, and Prayer.  If you regard the accursed thing in your life, that accursed thing will keep you from both of these methods.

Church Attendance 

The next thing that the accursed thing will affect is your church attendance.  As a Christian, you are commanded to attend church:

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. - Hebrews 10:24-25

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. - Acts 20:7

Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. - 1 Corinthians 16:1-2

You are to provoke other Christians unto love and good works.  You cannot obey that command if you are not gathered together with other Christians.  Don’t forget that Jesus had the custom of attending church and the name Christian means to be like or as Christ:

 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. - Luke 4:14-16

Soul winning

Finally, the accursed thing will diminish your soul winning efforts.  To be an active soul winner, you must have a passion for lost souls.  If you have taken of the accursed thing, you will not care how it affects others.  Achan knew that he wasn’t to take of the accursed thing, he even knew and was warned that by doing so, it would trouble the entire congregation of the Lord’s people, but he did not care.  He only cared about the accursed thing.

As a Christian, you are expected to bear fruit.  The Lord states that if you do not bear fruit, you are as a withered branch to him.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. - John 15:1-8

The accursed thing did not just affect Achan

The accursed thing impacted Achan, but the effects did not stop with him, the entire congregation was affected adversely.

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. - Romans 14:7

The things that you do will affect those that are around you.  Just like the disobedience of Jonah affected the Mariners, and just like Achan’s disobedience affected the congregation, your disobedience will affect those people around you.

When Achan took of the accursed thing, even though no-one else was involved or even knew what he had done, they all suffered the consequences.  Remember, they had just came off of a tremendous miraculous victory at Jericho.

Joshua was busy planning for the next battle, oblivious to what Achan had done, Joshua sent some spies to check out the next enemy.  Those spies felt that they could take Ai without even involving the entire army.  Here is what happened:

But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.
And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai.
And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labour thither; for they are but few.
So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai.
And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men: for they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them in the going down: wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. - Joshua 7:1-5

The disobedience of Achan caused the whole congregation to suffer, and thirty-six men, who were not directly engaged in the disobedience of Achan, lost their lives.  Achan had to pay the price for his disobedience, but the results of his disobedience were not exclusive to him.

 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity. - Joshua 22:20

Have you allowed these things to come between you and the ministry?

• Worldly Riches
• Possessions
• Careers
• Family

Have they become the accursed thing?

Have you allowed the things in your life that the Lord has blessed you with, to become the accursed thing?  If you have allowed any of these things, or anything else for that matter, to take the preeminence in your life, then those things are the accursed thing.

Why would ye be afflicted?

Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. - Isaiah 1:5

If you have allowed the accursed thing into your life, don’t ignore it, don’t remain afflicted by the accursed thing.  Decide to remove the accursed thing out of your life.

Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you. - Joshua 7:11-13

Keep pressing toward the mark

You are not powerless against the accursed thing, decide to remove it from among your things, and continue to move toward the calling that God has placed on your life:

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:13-14

Do not just beat yourself up for partaking of the accursed thing, dwelling on the past will not ever change the past, but you can change the future by making the correct decision today! Repent and get right with the Lord:

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. - Isaiah 1:16-20

Please don’t allow the accursed thing to continue to afflict you, and those around you.  Remove the accursed thing, by repenting and asking for forgiveness from the Lord.  If you ask, you will receive.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9