Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father remind us of the danger of temptation and sin. Father, we know these words, but we can so easily forget their dark reality amidst all of the amoral things we have to do in our everyday lives. Help us not to forget the importance of daily turning to you and repenting of our sin and asking for your help to resist temptation. Father I am so quick to justify myself in my own eyes to excuse myself from blame. Help us to accept responsibility for our actions, our attitudes, and our agendas. If they are sinful and foolish, forgive us and restore us! If they are holy and pleasing to you, then help us to thank you and praise you for the good work you've done in us! Father, in the name of your son Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, help us to be more intentional about fleeing temptation and rejecting sin. Forgive us and grow us!
Your Morning Song: "Your Royal Blood" by The Rend Collective Experiment
Your Monday Morning Sermon Recap: 2 Samuel 11 & 12
In the interest of not copying and pasting both chapters eleven and twelve into this space, if you have a bible next to you, just open up this spot in scripture and let's just get a brief look at what is saying to us here about sin.
David, now the mighty King of Israel, starts these two chapters off by staying behind when all of the fighting forces and resources are out engaging the enemies of God's people in battle. He was supposed to go with his people and lead them in battle, not stay behind. This opening moment of these two chapters is the tipping point from which David descends quickly into depths of sin that are hard to read and believe.
Having neglected his role and duty as king, David sees a beautiful woman, the wife of another man, Uriah, and sleeps with her just because he wants to. And then, when she becomes pregnant by him, he tries to cover it up. He tries manipulating and lying to Uriah, and when that fails, has Uriah killed.
Selfishness. Adultery. Deception. Murder. David appears to be nothing like the humble shepherd boy so many of us think of when we hear his name or think of his story. What is happening here?
If you'd like an interesting detail to keep track of in chapter eleven, mark or notice every time David sends, or someone is sent because of David's scheming. It is enough to be comical, all of the sending. And this all culminates when David, having just received word from his general that Uriah's murder has been arranged and completed, tells the messenger to tell the general, "do not let this be evil in your eyes/sight." David, not content with kingship over Israel, has become like Satan, seeking to be God, to take his throne. David is not only doing evil but is trying to define evil as good. And as David speaks to the messenger, we can hear the snake speaking to Eve in the Garden, Adam watching, and the sound of teeth biting into forbidden fruit.
Now read the first verse of chapter twelve.
"And then the Lord sent..."
Mindful of the brief time we have hear together, the rest of the story is this. God, from his untouchable throne, confronts David through the prophet Nathan, and David repents, exclaiming, "I have sinned against God!"
And even as God forgives him, he also tells David that there will be grievous consequences for what David has done.
Though the overview here is brief, a relatively clear picture of sin is painted for us. All sin, whether great or small, is an attack on God's throne, his identity, and his love for his creation, of which he loves people the most. And just as all sin is ultimately against God, then repentance for sin must always begin with God.
Do we see sin in this way? As always being against God?
What about how we choose to live our lives regarding sin? Are we mindful of the ways in which we each are weak? Are we protecting ourselves from temptation by being responsible to the roles God has given us? Spouse? Sibling? Child? Friend? Co-worker? Or are we foolishly being as lazy as respectability allows?
Do we understand how horrifying and terrible sin is? Do we see how it hurts not only us, but others as well?
Are we willing to daily go to God and ask him to help us stay away from sin? Are we willing to hold each other accountable in taking our sin seriously?
Let us not get lost in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of life and lose sight of the seriousness of temptation and sin. Let us not get lost in the twisting, corrosive foolishness of justifying our sin.
May our Heavenly Father discipline us and guide us ever towards righteousness! And though the discipline may sometimes sting, he only disciplines those he loves!
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