Today's treasure: 2 Samuel 11: 2-3
Read 2 Samuel 11: 1-5
What was David supposed to be doing in the spring?
The sin between David and Bathsheba had numerous repercussions. What was the first result according to verse 5?
We too could be persons of character and integrity yet destroy our ministries and ourselves through the choice to gratify our sudden lusts. In our culture we justify immoral behavior with the excuse that two people were "in love" .
David and Bathsheba were not in love. They simply chose to act in a dishonorable and destructive way.
In the gap between wanting and getting we must flex the muscle of self-control to protect ourselves. David rose to a position where his every wish was someone else's command. He ceased to hear a very important word--one without which integrity cannot be maintained. The word is NO.
Like most of us, David probably could say no rather easily to some things but had great difficulty saying no to others.
In the midst of all his integrity in the other areas of his life. (2 Sam 5:13). God clearly stated the consequences of multiplying wives in Deut. 17:17
Just as God warned, David's heart had gone astray. For a season the heart so much like God's wandered to an abyss of no resemblance. The Word of God makes over 500 references to the heart, but in 2 the words "above all".
David, the man of God, the Lord's anointed who enjoyed God's complete provision, took what did not belong to him and cast himself headlong into scandal. The threatened institution of marriage in our day, beckons us to confront the actions of King David.
David was in the wrong place at the wrong time. David had been an effective administrator and delegator, but he had exceeded the wise bounds of delegation. He left himself with little responsibility and idle hands.
David failed to protect himself with a network of accountability. At one time David had been sensitive to the thought of offending God. He sought the counsel of prophets and allowed himself to be held accountable. All of us need to be surrounded by people who are invited to hold us accountable and question the questionable.
David grew accustomed to wanting and getting. This time he went too far. David was lonely. He allowed himself to be placed so high on the throne that he found himself all alone. (2 Sam 9:1)
Be careful to fulfill the responsibilities God has given.
Deliberately set up a network of accountability partners.
Avoid lengthy periods of isolation.
Be aware of the progressive nature of sin.
David sinned in thought. David saw the woman bathing and concluded she was beautiful. Sight turned into desire. If the sin of the mind is not confessed and repented, it virtually always gives birth to the next stage.
David sinned in word. God knows that our meditations of our hearts. Think how often sin not squelched in the mind makes its way to the mouth.
David sinned in deed. He flirted with adultery in thought and word, stopping at neither to repent and ask God for help. Action followed. We must learn to allow God to halt sin in the place it begins--the thoughts. We're wise to aggressively confess the sins of our thoughts.
A heightened awareness of wrong thoughts will work greatly to our advantage. Getting in the habit of confessing sin in the thought life is reminding us what victors we are.
Scriptures to remind us through purity of thought, word and deed before God:
Psalm 139:23-24 thoughts
Psalm 19:14 words
Psalm 12:1-2 deeds
The greatest danger are those who think they could never be tempted and those presently being tempted. May we cast ourselves on the mercy of God and find help in the time of trouble.
No comments:
Post a Comment