Sin Is Never Hidden
“Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.” Joshua 7:19 NASBS
Dear Reader, By God’s grace, this small devotion is set before you today. I have not written it as one who has “attained” anything. In truth, I have nothing to boast about. I am only a man still fighting the passions and weaknesses that strive against me, yet living under the magnificent grace of God. Apart from His grace, I would stand condemned. My only hope— when I stand before the infinite God at the end of the age—is the shed blood of the glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
Perhaps today you find yourself with no heart for God. Perhaps Scripture feels cold to you. Perhaps you are giving yourself over to sensual pleasures, feeding desires that never satisfy. If so, I bring you hope—but not the false hope of Achan of old.
Achan had no heart of repentance. His heart was filled with greed and a desire for wealth, and he imagined he could hide his sin from the God of Israel. God had commanded Israel to take nothing from Jericho. The entire city was under the ban—devoted to destruction—because of its idolatry, child sacrifice, and gross immoralities.
Achan was not an irreligious man. He had just consecrated himself with Israel, followed the ark across the Jordan, and witnessed the miracle of the waters rolling back. He had marched around Jericho and was one of the voices shouting when the walls fell. And yet, when he entered the ruined city, he allowed his eyes to wander to a Babylonian garment, silver, and gold.
The lust he had never dealt with in his heart rose up in a moment of temptation. He stole what God had forbidden and hid it beneath his tent. In so doing, he turned aside from the very purpose for which God had brought Israel into the land and betrayed his own brothers.
But the God of heaven sees all things—and Achan’s sin did not remain hidden. This is a terrifying truth. Yet it is also a glorious one. For no thought runs through your mind that the Lord does not already know. And still, if you are reading this, you are not yet destroyed. By God’s providence, this small devotion has been placed before your eyes to offer you hope.
Scripture says, “Hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we eagerly wait for it.” There is hope—even for the concealed sins hidden deep within your heart, the sins no one else knows about, the sins that will one day be exposed. That hope is found only in the mercy of God through Jesus Christ.
After the great victory at Jericho, Joshua prepared to continue the conquest at Ai. But Israel met an unexpected defeat. Thirty- six men were lost, and God declared plainly, “There is sin in the camp.” Tribe by tribe, family by family, the Lord exposed the guilty man—Achan. Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, I implore you, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and give praise to Him; and tell me now what you have done. Do not hide it from me.”
Standing before the bar of God, Achan confessed the stolen items buried in the ground. But it was too late. If only conviction had broken his heart earlier. If only he had run to Joshua seeking mercy before judgment fell! Yet he stood guilty before the God of all creation and was sentenced to destruction.
My friend, take this to heart: the sin buried in the depths of your soul will one day be exposed. No veil of secrecy, no justification, and no darkness can conceal it from the God who sees all. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
But unlike Achan, today you still have hope. You have breath. You still have time. And God calls you to confession—not to destroy you, but to save you. He calls you to look upon His Son, Jesus Christ, and see the blood flowing from His wounds, able to wash away your sins. Hear also the echo of His voice—the One who will one day shake the heavens and the earth—saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And as God proclaimed through Isaiah, “Though your sins are like scar- let, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Christ Jesus willingly bore the judgment we deserve, and His blood speaks a better word than the stones that crushed Achan. If you will come to Him— turning from sin and trusting in His grace— you will find mercy. There is cleansing for the repentant. There is forgiveness for the broken. There is hope for the sinner who comes to Jesus Christ. May the God of heaven draw you to Himself today with effectual grace, and, as He did with Abraham of old, lead you to leave behind every idol that holds you captive to sin.