How Small Sins Rob Us of Blessing

Jun 14, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When Eyes Wander to Babylon’s Garments

The lure of forbidden treasure begins with a glance. Like Achan surveying Jericho’s spoils, we face moments where worldly beauty distracts us from divine purpose. What starts as curiosity becomes coveting, then compromise. Hidden desires fester when we fixate on what God has forbidden, trading eternal promises for temporary trinkets. Victory requires not just avoiding sin, but guarding our gaze. Every glittering distraction tests whether we truly believe God’s provision is enough. [50:06]

“And 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 7:21, KJV)

Reflection: What “Babylonish garment” has caught your eye this week—a possession, status, or secret craving? How does staring at it weaken your trust in God’s timing?

Day 2: The Weight of Hidden Silver

Buried sin poisons the camp. Achan’s stolen silver beneath his tent seemed harmless, but it drained strength from an entire nation. Hidden compromises—bitterness, greed, pride—still sabotage collective joy. God calls us to dig up what we’ve buried, not to shame us, but to free us. Until we expose darkness to His light, we’ll keep falling at life’s “Ais,” wondering why victory feels distant. [40:30]

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
(Proverbs 28:13, KJV)

Reflection: What’s buried in your “tent” that’s making you stumble? What first step will you take today to bring it into Christ’s healing light?

Day 3: Small Battles Expose Big Weaknesses

Ai’s defeat revealed Israel’s unaddressed sin. We often blame God when “little” trials overwhelm us, forgetting that small compromises erode spiritual strength. A critical word, a withheld forgiveness, a half-truth—these “Ais” expose where we’ve trusted self over surrender. True victory begins not in conquering giants, but in letting Christ conquer our secret self-sufficiency. [11:05]

“Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”
(Song of Solomon 2:15, KJV)

Reflection: What “little fox” have you dismissed as harmless that’s actually robbing your spiritual fruit? How will you address it before it spreads?

Day 4: Stones in the Valley of Achor

Achan’s memorial of stones wasn’t just a warning—it marked where grace turned judgment into hope. Our failures become altars when we let God redeem them. The valley where sin was purged became a testimony that no rebellion is beyond His cleansing fire. What the enemy meant to shame, God uses to proclaim: “I restore waste places.” [41:11]

“And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope…”
(Hosea 2:15, KJV)

Reflection: What failure have you been guarding as a shameful secret? How might God transform it into a “door of hope” if surrendered fully?

Day 5: Enough Today, More Tomorrow

God’s manna sustained Israel daily; Achan’s impatience rejected gradual blessing for instant loot. We sabotage tomorrow’s abundance when we demand everything now. True contentment isn’t settling—it’s standing in today’s provision while trusting tomorrow’s promise. The same God who parted Jordan for Jericho’s victory walks with us through every “Ai” toward His perfect timing. [18:45]

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:19, KJV)

Reflection: Where has impatience led you to “steal” blessings instead of waiting on God? How can you practice receiving today’s “manna” with gratitude?

Sermon Summary

Joshua stands on holy ground before Jericho and hears the Lord say, I have given you the city, its king, and its mighty men. Jericho falls as a gift, not by muscle or cleverness, and Israel steps into victory with pockets empty and hearts full. The text then draws a hard line: the spoils are consecrated to the Lord. The gold and silver belong in God’s treasury. When Achan buries a Babylonian robe, silver, and gold in his tent, God treats Israel as one person with a hidden sore, and Ai exposes it. Joshua tears his clothes and drops in the dust, but God answers, Get up. Israel has sinned. The promised land does not open while the heart hides what God has named accursed.

Achan’s life sits between two loud testimonies. He knows the plagues, the blood on the doorposts, water from rocks, manna from heaven, and Moses’ promise of cities not built, wells not dug, vineyards not planted. He also knows the slow murmur that turned an eleven day journey into forty years. In Jericho’s glow, Achan names the anatomy of sin plain as day: I saw, I coveted, I took, I hid. The eyes wake up in Canaan like stepping onto the Strip after forty years in the same shoes. The world flashes, the robe sparkles, and suddenly yesterday’s provision feels shabby. The robe is not just fabric. It is a story about the heart choosing speed over trust, spectacle over promise.

God answers hidden covetousness with surgery, not cosmetics. Identify it, he says. Stone it. Burn it. Pile stones on it. The point is not cruelty. The point is that Jericho was gift and the rest of the land would be, too, if Israel would stop stealing what God intends to give. The Lord who spared not his own Son is not stingy. He simply refuses to fund idols. Seek first the kingdom and these things will chase you. Chase these things and they will run you ragged.

Ai teaches what Jericho can hide: pride in small things topples big men. The text refuses the excuse that this is a minor matter. It is the little laugh by the water cooler, the secret scroll through glitter, the sharp word at home, the hidden stash in the tent. Victory returns when sin is dragged into daylight and buried under a witness heap. God is ready with cities, wells, vineyards, olive trees, children and children’s children playing out front. But he asks for scraped lots before new builds. He is enough today, or he will never be enough tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

1. God gives Jericho, pride assumes Ai [35:33] Jericho falls as gift, so no one boasts. Ai exposes the quiet shift from dependence to presumption, as if yesterday’s miracle now guarantees today’s win without listening. The small battle becomes a mirror that shows the heart. God lets Ai humble what Jericho could not. [35:33]
2. Hidden sin cripples the whole body [38:31] God speaks of Israel as one person because covenant life is shared life. One buried wedge of gold stalls an entire campaign, not out of pettiness but because holiness is relational. The land cannot open while the tent stays shut. Confession becomes the doorway back into strength. [38:31]
3. Sin’s sequence: saw, coveted, took, hid [51:17] Achan names the slide in four steps, and the heart knows every one of them. The eyes awaken to a glamor that makes yesterday’s manna feel thin, then desire fastens, then the hand moves, then the shovel. Break the chain early by naming what the eyes love before it owns the heart. [51:17]
4. The world glitters like Vegas [54:25] Canaan’s lights make forty year shoes look silly, and that is part of the test. The spectacle is real, even beautiful for a season, but it cannot keep its promises. Faith learns to walk past the fountain show with a steady soul, trusting the Giver to add good things in his time. [54:25]
5. Stone it, burn it, pile stones [01:04:50] God prescribes severe mercy so the lesson does not drift away. Some patterns cannot be remodeled; they must be demolished so new life can be built. A memorial of stones is not about shame, but about memory, so the future harvest is not mortgaged to yesterday’s hiding place. [64:50]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[32:28] - Opening greetings and humor
[35:02] - Jordan crossing and Jericho promised
[36:24] - Ban on Jericho’s spoils
[37:48] - Presuming on Ai, defeat follows
[38:31] - Get up: sin in the camp
[40:09] - Achan confronted and confesses
[41:46] - Achan’s history and Israel’s murmuring
[45:29] - Moses’ promises and warning
[50:55] - The sequence of sin exposed
[53:55] - Vegas on the horizon
[59:32] - Love not the world
[64:50] - Stone it, burn it, bury it
[68:43] - Seek first, God adds the rest
[70:32] - Small Ais reveal big pride
[76:48] - Scrape and rebuild: holy renovation
[78:24] - Choose Christ and be patient

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Joshua 6:17-19; 7:1, 10-12, 19-21 (NASB)
“The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord… But as for you, keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not covet them… Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord… The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Rise up! Why is it that you have fallen on your face? Israel has sinned… They have taken some of the things under the ban… I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst.’… So Achan answered Joshua and said, ‘I have sinned against the Lord… When I saw among the spoils… I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent.’”

Observation Questions

What specific command did God give Israel regarding Jericho’s spoils, and what warning accompanied it?
How did God describe the impact of Achan’s hidden sin on the entire nation of Israel?
What four-step sequence did Achan use to describe his sin (Joshua 7:21)?
In the sermon, how was the allure of Canaan compared to modern-day Las Vegas? [53:55]

Interpretation Questions

Why did God require Israel to destroy Achan’s entire household and possessions, not just the stolen items? What does this reveal about His view of sin’s relational consequences?
The sermon emphasized that “hidden sin cripples the whole body.” How does Achan’s story illustrate the interconnectedness of a community’s spiritual health?
Why might the “glitter” of worldly temptations (like the Babylonian robe) feel more appealing than God’s promises, even after experiencing His miracles? [54:25]
What does the command to “stone it, burn it, pile stones” teach about God’s method for breaking cycles of sin?

Application Questions

Achan’s sin began with “I saw, I coveted.” What areas of your life (possessions, relationships, status) are most vulnerable to coveting? How can you guard your eyes and heart?
The sermon warned that “small Ais reveal big pride” [01:10:32]. What “minor” compromises (e.g., gossip, secret habits, harsh words) might be weakening your spiritual resilience?
God told Joshua, “Get up!” after failure. Where do you need to stop dwelling on past mistakes and take action to confront sin or rebuild trust in God’s provision?
The Babylonian robe symbolized a “story about the heart choosing speed over trust.” What are you impatiently grasping for instead of waiting for God’s timing?
How could creating a “memorial of stones” (e.g., journaling, accountability) help you remember lessons from past failures and avoid repeating them?
The sermon asked, “Is God enough today, or will He never be enough tomorrow?” [01:19:07] What practical step can you take this week to actively choose contentment in Christ over worldly cravings?

Sermon Clips

38s

#BuryThePastMemorial

“I want it stoned. I wanna burn it. I wanna bury it. I wanna pile stones on as a memorial to say, I learned a wonderful lesson right there. I think when I any person I'll tell you that ends up, I think, having a victorious life in Christ and has the land, has the house they didn't build, the wells they didn't dig, the the blessings, the oliviers, and the vineyards, that person usually has a lot of AIs and Aiken's on the journey that they learned to bury. They learned in their own life, I'm not just gonna slide it off and explain it away and move on, only to repeat it again. I want it gone, and I want it done.”

29s

#DestroyToBuildNew

“And, you know, the issue there, if they really truly wanted that whole new home, they had to be willing to destroy what was previously there to build what they wanted. And, you know, we want this wonderful life in Christ because as well, there's gonna be a lot of destructions before there's great construction. There's a lot of times that you look there. And if you wanted to say, I wanna keep this, keep this, keep this, well, then paint it and remodel it like we've done. But you won't have a new one.”

32s

#ChooseGodWatchBlessings

“And we say, Lord, I choose you, and I want to wholly follow you. And then you say good. Now let's go home together. Now let's go home and drive down the street and see all the other stuff. But keep your eyes on me and your heart on me, and you be patient and watch the blessing I'll bring into your life and into your home and into your marriage and your family and your children and your children's children. Lord, that you would do these things within us. We want it all.”

27s

#JesusIsEnoughToday

“We want it all. And, Lord, you say, well, if you want it all, there's nobody who wants it more than me. But are you willing to walk away and be patient? And I'm enough for you right now today. Because if I'm not enough today, I won't be tomorrow or the next. So, Jesus, be enough in our lives today. Be sufficient, Lord. We ask your blessing on it. In your wonderful name, we pray. Amen.”

27s

#CreatorKnowsOurJoy

“The one who's who's he died on the cross, he bled out of his love for us and he gave us life. What what would now he withhold? What would he hold back? Just waiting for our faith to put one foot in front of another. I want it for you more than you dream of wanting it yourself. I made man. I know what it is that I put within him. I know the joys and the fullness and the blessings of life. I created every nerve in his body. Every everything within him. I know where the fullness of joy is.”

32s

#BewareOfCovetousness

“Even God agrees essentially. There there it's it's it's quite something. It's quite a spectacle. God himself, he says there is joy and sin for a season. It has this time. It has this spectacle about it, but it'll destroy you. Well, Esau. It starts with seed. But then he goes on next and also in verse 21, he says, then I coveted. I coveted. I you know, he admits it. To covet means to feel a strong desire for that which is another's. You can't covet your own.”

26s

#CityOfTemptation

“And you come over here. It's a city. It's a city. They have lights. They have electricity. They have all this incredible stuff. And so you go on, you come marching down. Next thing you know, you realize this city, it's it's it's Las Vegas. And now you're sitting there, you're walking through this town. You've been warned about it. You've been told you're gonna this is this is Vegas. This is what it's all about. Here you're gonna but but don't go for it. They're a city of destruction and wickedness.”

33s

#DeliveredYetWandering

“What a what a paradox to have one side of it so victorious, so tremendous, and yet at their daily experience. How many times did he heard there the promised inheritance that they would one day have that God brought them out, that God's plan for them? And there they were brought out of Egypt through the Red Sea, and now they are in the wilderness and the dryness of a desert like that. On their way on into the promised land, we're told in Numbers or Deuteronomy, I think it's Numbers, that it was an eleven day journey from the borders of of Egypt to the borders of Canaan. They spent forty years.”

23s

#DontLetGiftsBecameLack

“Now, you know, what what what God has given to you, it's it's it's good. It's a gift. He loves to do that. But when there's something now that even what he has given me is now inadequate, now all of a sudden it it's not sufficient. Now I'm self conscious about what somebody else has and I don't. Now here Aiken said, I saw and I coveted I had to have it. I just had to have it.”

30s

#VegasTemptation

“But here you are. Can you imagine now the shock you're walking down Las Vegas Boulevard or the Strip or whatever they call it, and here you see their temples. Here you see their fabulous places of worship. You see their lights. You see their fountains. You see the you're walking down the street, you see their ladies. You see their their dresses. Never a tree that dress like that. All the speckles on it, all this thing. They're systematic. They're beautiful. You see their shoes.”

29s

#ComparisonStealsJoy

“Shoes like look at their shoes. They're looking down at their 40 year old shoes. They're looking at their outfits. They're looking over here seeing all this. All their jewelry, their hairdos, their makeup, their facelifts, their fingernails, their toenails, your your their cars. I mean, if you do look at all this thing around you, and there you're looking at it. And all of a sudden, for the first time, you're self conscious. All of a sudden, you're seeing a world you never known.”

26s

#SinLooksAttractive

“And, you know, there's something there that as far as Satan is concerned, he's got this great great ability to make anything look attractive, look desirable. Something there that when you look at it, there's always something beautiful about it, something pleasant to the eyes, something that that that can be very much desired, make you wise. And here, there's something as she looks at this and she ponders it, And then she takes of it. Even God agrees. It's beautiful.”

27s

#SmallCompromisesStartBig

“And all of a sudden, there you are. Something you'd heard about. It's something that you had rejected easily when you were younger or ignorant of of its power, of its influence, of its beauty. Now all of a sudden, you're looking around. Well, this this can't all be that bad. Come on now. Give me a break. That's where it starts. That's where it always starts. We're told with the devil in the garden here when he comes there to to Eve and he tempts her,”

24s

#GrumblingDespiteMiracles

“I mean, US postal service is better than that. But the they here they just went around in circles. They're grumbling, murmuring. I mean, no doubt here Achan, he was out there that even then in the wilderness, he saw water come out of the rocks. He saw a manna come out of heaven. He saw quail come out of the sky. He saw enemy armies destroyed as Moses simply raised the rod and they you know, there and defeated them.”

30s

#FamiliarityBreedsComplacency

“He saw there, you know, these wonderful things that God had done. He saw the earth open up and and swallow up a rebellion and a rebellious people that that had murmured and murmured and murmured and were dividing the people. And he saw God over and over. And, you know, with his wonderful miraculous ways. But yet, you could kinda say, Achan, you know, grew up in church, I suppose, in the Old Testament picture of it. No doubt Achan though sat with his parents in church, and they heard, I mean, they heard the greatest sermons.”

33s

#KnowTruthYetMurmur

“And no doubt they spoke and knew very well the final plague where God destroyed the firstborn of every man and of every beast in all of Egypt except for those there who had the blood of the lamb over the lintel and the doorpost of their house signifying there, god's mercy of the lamb sacrificed on their behalf, saving them from their sins, but not the rest of Egypt who now answered for them. And so he thee knew this story. He knew it well. And yet knowing that at the very same time, he also saw a murmuring spirit. This seemed to overtake them all.”

32s

#ChooseObedienceNotSpoils

“And here, now Achan, he's in that land. Now it's his own choice. Is he gonna go with Moses' preaching and Moses' message, or is he gonna go with just the habit of the generation that he watched around him? And here Aiken, obviously, he chooses the wrong way. The way of disobedience. The way there that he he gets into the land and here they're they're going into this battle in Jericho. And here the very thing that God told me, he says, don't worry about the silver or the gold or or the Babylonian garments and all these other things that you will see in there.”

24s

#ReligionWithoutReality

“And yet at the same time, they can also realize, but none of them went in. They sang of it. They preached about it, but they never knew the personal reality of God's internal blessing for them personally. They just preached together. They sang about it, but the happy and unhappiness was on display all week long. Their emptiness, their murmuring, their gossiping, their frustration with God. Anytime a trial came,”

28s

#FaithShouldTransformDailyLife

“you want victory. You you know it. You come in to church and you do experience. You knew, though, you love him. And you mean it, but somehow another that we get to the car and this and we're we're right at Vegas Strip again. There it is. We're out there, and we're self conscious about other things or whatever else. So we take our mind, and now we can handle it. You know, we I've been married. It'll be fifty eight years, very soon. for fifty eight years, I'm sure I could handle a woman.”

32s

#WatchTheLittleThings

“But, you know, the little things to us are not so little with God. Sometimes it's the little things in our life or in our marriage or in our family or our neighborhood or where we work or the things that we say around the water cooler. The jokes that we have in our behavior, that everything else around that that's so little, not important. But yet those are the things that so often keep us out of blessing. Those little things that you when you look at and you say, what's happened? And God begins to say, well,”

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Calvary Chapel East Anaheim This sermon · AI assistant

What is the progression of sin in the heart

How does hidden sin affect the whole community

When should believers destroy and memorialize besetting sins

How Small Sins Rob Us of Blessing

Devotional

Day 1: When Eyes Wander to Babylon’s Garments

Day 2: The Weight of Hidden Silver

Day 3: Small Battles Expose Big Weaknesses

Day 4: Stones in the Valley of Achor

Day 5: Enough Today, More Tomorrow

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

How Small Sins Rob Us of Blessing

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