He who tried to rebuild the walls of Jericho would pay a steep price. His oldest and youngest son would die. In 1 Kings 16, we read of a man named Hiel who did this. He rebuilt Jericho - but his oldest and youngest son died in the process.

Maybe you can relate to Joshua and the people of Israel. You’ve been set free from Egypt and baptized in the Spirit. But before you is a wall, a fortress, a barrier between you and someone else that is keeping you from going all the way into the heart of the Land of Promise. As a father, it might be between you and your junior high son. As a mother, it might be between you and your teenage daughter. As a husband or wife, it might be between you and your spouse. As a believer, it might be between you and a brother or sister in the Lord.

If God knocks down a wall between you and another and you say, “Maybe I shouldn’t be so forgiving. Maybe I’m being taken advantage of,” there will be no shortage of people to hand you all the bricks and mortar you need to rebuild the wall. But you’ll pay a terrible price. Don’t undo what God has done. Don’t harden your heart. Don’t let your soul become like concrete. Instead, with the wall flat on the ground, enter into fresh fellowship with the one from whom, by God’s grace and mercy, you are no longer estranged.