2 Chronicles 26:6
“And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.”
The Philistines were always the nagging enemy of the children of Israel. Every king of Israel had to deal with this country, and they were never truly able to destroy them. Yet, you will find that there were kings who conquered them at times, and Uzziah was one of those kings.
I like to equate the Philistines with the nagging sins in each person’s life. Though Israel had their victories against these people, and there were seasons in their history when they were subdued, the Philistines always came back. That is very much like sin. You can conquer sin, but if you don’t keep doing what you did to conquer the sin, you will find it will keep coming back. There were some definite things that Uzziah did to conquer the Philistines that if every king after him had made sure these things were taken care of, they would have never had to deal with these people again. The same things Uzziah did to conquer the Philistines is what it will take for you to conquer your nagging sins.
First, you must declare war on your sins. Uzziah didn’t try to negotiate with the Philistines, instead he declared an all-out war against them. You will never conquer your nagging sins until you declare war on them. You can’t negotiate with sin and win. The only way sin will be destroyed is if you declare war and decide you will not stop fighting until it is completely defeated.
Second, you must remove the places of fellowship. The first place Uzziah went after was the wall of Gath. Gath was a place where the Philistines made wine. Wine is symbolic of fellowship. You will never win the war over sin until you remove the places of fellowship that feed your sin. It’s not that fellowship is bad, but the world’s fellowship that feeds your sin must be destroyed.
Third, you must remove the supply lines. Jabneh was a village by the sea. It was the supply lines for the Philistines. You must remove the supply lines of your sin if you want to conquer it. Just like there are places you must change, you must always remove the things that feed your sin. If your sin is not fed, it will die.
Fourth, you must remove the stronghold of your sin. Ashdod was the stronghold of the Philistines. It was their source of pride. You will never conquer your nagging sins as long as you think you can handle them. Pride is always at the core of every sin. You must remove the core of your nagging sin and that is pride.
Here is the most important step you must take and that is to rebuild good in the places where bad once resided. After Uzziah removed these places, he rebuilt what he wanted in each place. You will never conquer your nagging sin until you replace the bad with good. You must replace the bad fellowship with good fellowship. In other words, you may have severed ties with bad friends, but you must replace them with godly friends. You may have removed the supply lines of sin, but you must replace them with the supply lines of good. The supply lines of good are the Scriptures, prayer, church attendance and serving God. Likewise, you must replace your pride by glorifying God. Praising God is an important part of keeping your pride under control.
You can conquer your nagging sin. You don’t have to let sin control you. It all starts with you declaring war on your nagging sin right now. Then, follow the remaining steps and you will see victory over the nagging sins in your life.