Little ewe lamb
2 Samuel 12: 1”Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, "There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.”
David had done atrocious and heinous crime of adultery and astutely planned murder of Uriah; however, for around 9 months, he seemed to be cool, trying to be normal with his wife that he hotly pursued and the new born baby. Many out there are living their life like this, as though in amnesia, oblivious to God and what they have done; nonetheless, the bubble would burst soon. Beware! That woman/man who people are chatting with clandestinely on facebook, secret exchange of text, emogis will all be exposed…..you know what, the Lord later told David ” because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.(2 Samuel 12:10) Never think God is snoring, never…He is watching you as your eyes rove lustfully and your thoughts raze like thunder with evil thoughts.
Do not covet: David did not go to Nathan the prophet, but God sent him, to wake him up from ‘coma’ and therefore Nathan told a story of a rich man and poor man who owned a little ewe lamb. The rich man had great many flocks and herds but the poor man had just one little ewe lamb that he loved and cherished like his own kid; however, when the rich man had a guest, he did not want to kill one of his own flock but coveted the poor man’s little lamb. How nauseating is the act of the wicked and the greedy! Friend, when you look at your neighbor’s car, salary, wife., husband, clothes and house with dropped jaws and wide eyes then you are not different from this rich man who had a greedy heart.
Be content: The Bible talks a lot about being content and satisfied, Jesus said: I am the Bread of life! (John 6:35) Apostle Paul said: Philippians 4: 11,12” I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.”
Greed / lust leads you to destruction: Greed or avarice is an insatiable hunger for something that you are hotly pursing, that eventually takes you to the path of total disaster. In this story the rich man kept his flock safe but killed the little ewe lamb and prepared feast for his friend; likewise, we would be ready to RISK anything in our life in order to satisfy that devilish hunger that sadly led David to sin with Bathsheba.
Misuse of power: What I saw in this story was not only all the above, but dirty, arrogant, overbearing and pompous attitude of David; this is totally from the enemy. Any kind of highhanded behavior, pride and smugness is from Lucifer. Danger! Actually if you see deeply, this ‘sin of adultery’ happened in his life when he was in his great season of blessings, when people are full of blessings, talents, skills, and bank balance then their heart becomes puffed up and their heart now wanders……………..
Listen, if you have enemies hounding you , then David would have been elsewhere not in the balcony, gazing at a bathing woman are you listening? This guy at this point of life was full of warriors and lot of horses and chariots and great victory too(check out the previous chapter, then you would know). Very rightly the Lord in the beginning warned how a king should be:
Deuteronomy 17: 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, ..16 "Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the LORD has said to you, 'You shall never again return that way.'
17 "He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.
18 "Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
19 "It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes,
20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.
When you do not have the required talents and skill to compete with your colleagues then you would be studying hard , equipping yourself hard to keep up with them, rather than stand in the balcony…..
When you have a great voice, gifts, great oratory skills, talents (that actually comes from God) and all the ‘stuff’ that makes your head big, then you would not humble yourself to sit in the presence of God and cry for His presence……rather when you have million views then you wander to the balcony………..
David’s hubristic misuse of power and his office as a king, finally crossed a bridge too far, he covets another man’s wife, manipulates and gets Bathsheba’s husband Uriah killed, the aftermath of which came in the form of his own son Absalom who tortured David, so don’t ever think you get away with all your bad behavior, much more is expected of you, when you are in the seat of ‘LEADERSHIP’. Caveat!
POWER IS LIKE ALCOHOL THAT INTOXICATES PEOPLE! No wonder Simon when he saw Philip doing great works through the Holy Spirit, He said, “give me this power”.
Acts, 8:18”And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, "Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit." Did you see how dangerous power is? Simon became more excited and became greedy for this power. He thought ‘Christianity’ was another supreme magic show, so the above scripture states that he ‘offered money’ to get this power. There are several such ‘false converts’ flaunting around the church today and some are also into ministry. Don’t faint as yet, let me finish!
There are several pastors who invite ‘guest speakers’ who can draw crowd through (false) prophesies and many other things….except repentance and change of heart, a whole lot of other drama takes place. Let me narrate an experience, a lady was invited by a village pastor and used enormously because she prophesies, but he failed to realize that she was a thief. She would select the elite, rich ones, lavishly pour out prophesies and then privately ask them for gold. Since I regularly visit this village I came to know of this through the members. Sadly within a few years, this lady met with a terrible accident. Friend, inviting such ‘thieves’ into the church, in the name of growth of the church also tantamount to what Simon did. Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! Many are doing this today! Beware! Don’t fall for excitement, emotions and something new, let your focus be on Jesus and His Word. Period. People in ministry are trying to do gimmicks to build the ministry. Nothing, I repeat nothing can bring true revival except change of heart and deep repentance. Anybody listening?
Let this devotion bring conviction of sin in your life and lead you to confession, repentance and salvation/restoration to God. God bless you!
