Day 10 - 2 Samuel

We're in double digits.  Keep it up and keep reading!

I love King David.  I love reading the stories about David.  Of course, David and Goliath is a great story, as we saw, with lots of smack talk.  However, David is also famous for another story, and this one isn't so good:  the story of David and Bathsheba.  It's hard for that NOT to be the story we would focus on in 2 Samuel.  David was a good man and a great king.  However, he let his power get to him.  He saw Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah (one of his soldiers), bathing.  He decided he wanted her as his own.  It became a soap opera.

She became pregnant so he had Uriah rushed home from war so that he would sleep with his wife and people would think the child was Uriah's.  But the soldier wouldn't do it, claiming it unfair to his fellow partners in combat.  So David had Uriah sent to the front lines so that he'd be killed in battle.  Then David took Bathsheba to be his wife. 

The words of Nathan, the prophet, are powerful:

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ -2 Samuel 12:7-10

Bottom line:  sexual sin will get you.  Every Jesus Follower has to stay on top of their game on this issue.  The lines of right and wrong get blurred, our minds get twisted, our hormones start messing with our thinking.  It can mess you up.  We think, "This will make me happy."  It won't...in the long run.  Despising the Word of God never works out.  I have seen this destroy lives, tear up marriages, and break down ministries.  Our sexuality is one of the easiest ways for us to get our focus off Jesus.  Now, you can take this further than sex.  It can be about the lure of doing anything that brings instant gratification but is contrary to the Word of God.  Sooner or later, ignoring God's commands catches up to you.

And it's ridiculous, God says, because when we do that we:

     A)  Ignore all that God has already blessed us with.  Basically, we're looking for the latest, greatest thing when God has already lavished blessing upon blessing on us.  He gave David everything...and it still wasn't enough.

     B)  Underestimate God's desire to give us even more.  God tells David, "I would have given you even more if you'd have asked.  Just don't do stupid stuff!"  Okay, my paraphrase. 

There is a lure to the world that tells you that doing things God's way will take too long, that it won't give us that immediate satisfaction.  There is a lure that says that God's laws are outdated and old-fashioned.  But there's a catch.  Whatever the world is offering won't bring you the happiness you thought it would.  It is an instrument of the devil and it is full of lies and deceit.  Though you and I might not always understand God's laws, they are designed to give us the best life possible.  Moreover, God loves us so much that he want so lavish upon us more and more righteous, pure and holy blessings if we would just let him.  Don't take shortcuts in anything.  Trust doing things God's way.  It's always the best.