OUR CALLING:
It is true that we all fall short of the glory of God, and that everyday the mercies of God are new. But as followers of Christ we must realize our true calling in God’s vast kingdom. It is all summed up in these verses:
1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
1 Thessalonians 4:7
“For God has not called us to live in sin. He has called us to live a holy life.”
So what are these verses saying?
We are God’s chosen people! We are called into his royal family, we live under who our God is and we live by his word. As people of God we are to be holy, why? Because He is holy!
A HOLY GOD:
God is holy! His hands have never partaken in sin, in fact he can’t even look upon it. Jesus lived a life without sin, yet he took our sin upon himself at the cross, and because of that we too are able to live holy lives. Our God shows his holiness all throughout his word. He was holy when Moses had to take his sandals off in his great presence. He was holy when the tabernacle was built. He was holy when he was healing the blind and walking on water. And he is holy now, and forever. The moment we made the decision to follow God, we also decided to live a life pleasing to him, a life without sin. A life of holiness.
SIN:
When I think about sin, one word always come to mind along with it, DEATH. The bible even speaks of this. (Romans 6:23)
If we were to fully see the outcomes of what sin does in all truth, the way God sees it, we would never sin! Sin is ugly and grotesque, I envision it like that of a disease or cancer. SO, how does sin enter our lives?, how do we avoid sin?, and what happens when we slip?
I'm going to use King David as a great answer for these questions.
Who was David?
Before we get into that, let me give you a little back ground to David. David was a man known as " a man after God's own heart." He was anointed King and was very obedient to God. He loved God dearly and followed his laws, unlike the King before him. (Saul) Yet, even this same man, who loved and followed God slipped up one day, or was it just that one day that caused him to sin against the Lord?
DAVID & BATHSHEBA:
Lets take a look at 2 Samuel 11.
In 2 Samuel 11, a story of the outcome sin brings unfolds in David’s life.
The verse starts out by stating an interesting thought, it says:
“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.” (v.1)
Now David was known as a great fighter, that’s how he got his start after all. (David and Goliath) Yet, for some reason during a time when Kings were known to go off to war with their army, David stayed behind and sent someone else in his place? Out of characteristic of David for sure.
Long story short, David walked around his palace and from his view, saw a women bathing on a roof. He became filled with lust (is that too much of an assumption really?) and had her brought to him, he then slept with her. Now this women not only happened to be married, but to a man in David's own army. The women later sent word to David and said she was pregnant, and David began acting on impulse and guilt (again not too much of an assumption based on his actions) David then tries to make sure that Bathsheba’s husband comes home and goes home to be with her, so it would look as if he got her pregnant, but Uriah's (Bathsheba's husband) loyalty (ironically) to God and his fellow soldiers made him feel guilty to go home during such a time. Skip to David’s persistence to have her husband go home, and his failings at doing so, David eventually had her husband put in the front lines of the battle (knowing he'd be killed) and he in end dies.
So what in the world happened to David? The very same David who was known as a man after God's own heart.
Surely he didn’t wake up one day close to God, and the next end up in a pit of sin.
At some point David must have allowed ‘footholds’ [Ephesians 4:27] in his life, sin he entertained rather then expelled from his life. Seeds of sin.
David must have had moments where he gave an inch after an inch. Eventually leading to a foothold that satan can simply latch onto. It’s obvious that David wasn’t being himself, knowing that he didn’t even join his army in battle especially around the time when kings were known to. As well as the whole act of sinning against the God he was known to love so dearly.
NATHAN REBUKES DAVID:
Now after sometime after David sinned against the Lord, God tells the prophet Nathan to go to David. [2 Samuel 12] Basically Nathan tells David a story about a rich man taking a poor mans lamb to use for a meal. He goes on about how the rich man had plenty but the poor man only had this lamb. David, upon hearing this story becomes enraged and says the man should be killed and pay for the lamb four ties over, etc. (v. 5)
Here's the interesting part: (verse 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 all 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."
Woah!
SO, what can we get out of the story Nathan tells David and the words of God spoken through Nathan?
One thing we can see from these passages is that sin was in David’s life and he hadn’t done anything about it (aka he hadn’t repented) The bible gives out many hints that offered up David’s character during these times.
The words of God, through Nathan, point to some flaws in David’s character. God speaks about all the things he’s gifted David with, even stating had it still been too little he would have given him more!- Along with the story Nathan tells David, we begin to see some bad fruits and traits come out of David:
1. GREED: David had plenty, hello he was King! He had more than any man needed! Yet he still wanted something that wasn’t his, Uriah's wife. (You could even say this brought out a bit of jealousy too!)
2. SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS: When David is appalled at the story of the man Nathan tells him of, he acts morally “right” despite he is no better. (How embarrassed he must have felt when Nathan pointed out the man in the story was actually him!)
3. PRIDE: David's thinking that he could have what he pleased and do what he pleased obviously rooted a sense of pride within him.
4. LUST: Not much needs to be said with this one, other than one word: Bathsheba
5. HARDENED & CORRUPTED HEART: In the passages later stated about David’s punishment, where God ends the life of the son he had with Bathsheba (v.18) it is stated that his son was a child (either from infant age or higher) So, in the time David has an affair with Bathsheba and impregnates her, and murders Uriah, to the point he’s at now, shows that it’s been quite some time that David went on without repenting or even acknowledging his sins. His heart obviously wasn't receptive to conviction over his sins. The sin in his life had affected his heart.
6. LOVE FOR CONTROL/POWER: From what is stated in the bible, it seems like David begins to take the reigns without regard for the true King and the one who held the real power (GOD) He grossly uses his power/control to have a man killed and summon another man’s wife.
I'm sure we could pick out some more traits and fruits from David's character during this time. Still, this proves that David didn't just go to sleep one night holding the hand of God, and then woke up in a whole different territory from God. These show at some point David allowed (tolerated) each of the seeds of sin (Foot Holds) to be in his life, and because of that, his sins began to separate him from God. His sins began to corrupt his heart, character, and deceive him. There might have been moments David's title as King made him prideful, or his close relationship with God self-righteous. Instead of checking himself, David entertained those traits (sinful traits). It's clear that David'd great sin of adultery and murder didn't just spring up in him. He laid out footholds in his life for satan to climb up on, and when we allow footholds in our life, you better believe satan planning to take over way more than just a place of footing, he intends to conquer as much as he can!
Isaiah 59:2
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
The fact is: We can’t have even the smallest tolerance for sin in our life, if we do, that sin will only grow, expand, and take root in our lives. As evident in King David's story. Luckily David's eyes opened,If you keep reading After Nathans rebuke, David goes before God and repents ( you can find his prayer of repentance in Psalm 51) It's a beautiful prayer that shows how we should go before God after we slip or fall.
SO, how do we avoid sin?
To avoid sin is to be near to God. We can't tolerate any small seeds of sin in our lives at all. (because seeds grow!)
The most amazing thing about being a follower of God, is the intimate relationship you can have with him. Staying close to him, reading his word, setting up times for prayer and worship. These are all key things in our walk with God. We are not perfect, and we have a more than understanding Father who knows this. Still, if you walk by his spirit and be obedient, then when satan tries to plant seeds of sin in your life, you'll be able to avoid them, call them out, and cast them far from you. Staying at the feet of the Lord is always the way to go! If you feel like you've allowed footholds of any kind in your life the best thing to do is pray them out! Going to our God and asking for forgiveness that we've allowed certain things in our life, things that could possibly lead to sin. Traits we feel we are picking up, or fruit that doesn't seem to align with the fruit of the Spirit (pride, jealousy, pride, lust, anger, etc). We serve a God who listens and answers! When we pray for help, in our struggles he will never refuse!!
I encourage you to go and read Psalm 51, It shines in the heart of both the sinner and God.
