To reach the maximum of their manhood, all real men must live more and more Christlike lives.  To do so requires not an automatic choice/response, but rather a calculated self-willed decision and follow through effort.  The facts of the matter are that today with all of the sin and corruption facing every human being within our own culture and society, moral pollution is taking its toll on all of manhood.  It is causing it to disintegrate before our very eyes.

The answer to such a dilemma is to be found within the Holy Scriptures.  The undeniable truth tells us that the Israelites were great examples for us to follow and live out our own lives today.  Here is a case in point.  The Israelites had missed their opportunity to enter the God-granted Promised Land because they had committed five basic sins.  These sins are outlined in detail in the Book of 1 Corinthians Chapter 10, verses 6-10  NKJV:

(6)   “Now these things became our examples, to the intent that  
           we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.

(7)    And do not become idolaters as were some of them.  As it is 
          written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up
          to play.’

(8)    Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did,
           and in one day twenty-three thousand fell;

(9)    Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and
          were destroyed by serpents;  

(10)   Nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were
           destroyed by the destroyer.”

These five sins committed by the Israelites kept them from entering the Promised Land….their preordained blessed inheritance as promised by God to His chosen people.  If it happened to them,…it can happen to you!  

The five sins were:

     Lust
     Idolatry
     Fornication
     Tempting Christ
     Murmuring

It is imperative that you sir, that you madam, insure that you do not shut yourself out of God’s intended blessing for you by committing any of these same sins.

Careful examination and honest evaluation coupled with a realistic understanding of our society and culture as exists today will always lead to the correct resolve that fornication stands out as the most obvious committed sin in our nation today.  I would have to tell you that my experience over the past 37 years of being directly involved and working with other people is that the folks who have failed to reach their Promised Land did so because of their own sex sins!  The children of Israel had nothing on us…No sir,…we match sin for sin with them.

Sexual promiscuity, living together as if married to a person to whom you are not married, multiple sexual partners, illegitimate births, sexually transmitted diseases, and the like are rampant in our society today.  The problem just keeps growing and getting bigger and involving more and more people within our communities. So many lives are all being effected by sex sins.  The problem is as bad and prominent within the church as it is outside of it.

The real truth of the matter is that most men and women today are indeed searching for their own Canaan Land…..their own Promised Land.  It is a place where problems are resolved, relationships are restored and renewed, wrongs are made right, conflicts ended, and love of self and others is always at the forefront of people’s thoughts and efforts.  Canaan Land is a place of great positive morality.  It is a Land of Plenty.  BUT…you must understand full well that there can never be Morality until there is first sexual Purity.  God gave the headship of the family to Adam in the Garden of Eden.  Therefore it is the man’s personal responsibility to protect and insure that his woman stays sexually pure until she reaches the legal marriage bed.  The man must protect the purity of the woman.  In so doing the morality of the people can be properly established and maintained.

Canaan Land was always a place, a Land, in biblical history, that was God’s symbol of mankind’s maximized potential.  Canaan is the place where God’s promises are fulfilled in our lives–the place where God maximizes the potential of His people both individually and collectively.  And it effects their spirits, emotions, and bodies; their marriages, children, and professions.

Canaan Land was the place as described in the Old Testament where God wanted the Israelites to live after He delivered them from their bondage in Egypt.  They were to live there in faith, and God would fulfill his promises to them.

The same is true today for you.  Your Canaan Land is a Land of Promise where God wants you to live by faith today.  There, He will fulfill His Promises in your life.  It is there that you can reach your own maximum potential.  Canaan Land is indeed real!  It represents that place where your total success in life today is achieved, lived, and enjoyed.  It is definitely where God wants you to be and to live.

Those five reasons, those five sins, are why men today do not get their Canaan Land fulfillment in life.  God truly does want men to have Canaan Land marriages, businesses, parental relationships, and educations.  However because of their committing any one or more of those five sins, all too many men and women eliminate themselves from ever enjoying the benefits and blessings that come with the occupying of this precious and valuable territory.  Those five basic sins still plague men and women today and keep them from the fulfillment of the potential in their lives.

If you desire to be happy, fulfilled, and highly productive, make certain that you avoid committing any of those five sins.  Be strong and be courageous and conduct your life and your affairs with other people in a godly and proper manner.  When you do that, your heavenly blessing is sure to follow. 

The way to your Canaan Land is bordered with godly boundaries.  Never cross those boundaries.  Stay within the proper rules of personal conduct.  Be godly, be righteous, be honest, and be faithful.  That can only happen to and for you when you trust and obey the Word of God.

Be A Real Man and Always Act Like One………………