Category: Unique and United

A Pinched Off Piece of Clay – Job 33 – 2025 Day 80

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 33, Psalm 48

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life…. Behold, I am toward God as you are;
I too was pinched off from
a piece of clay.

Job 33:4, 6 ESV

Have you ever tried making a “pinch pot” out of a little lump of sticky brown clay or have you ever attempted to mold a little clay pot on a potter’s wheel?

I actually grew up with two aunts and one uncle who are professional potters. I spent many hours admiring their work and attempting to make my own. Then, a few years ago, my oldest daughter and I went to a local pottery shop to try our hand at throwing coffee mugs on a wheel. Let me just say that these experiences have taught me to appreciate the skill involved with making incredible beauty out of a few handfuls of wet dirt.

In this passage of Job, two things jumped out at me.

1. God is the potter. God is who made us, and He is who gives us life. He creates and shapes and molds us into what He desires. Friends, none of us are mere accidents. We didn’t just evolve from apes through a random series of genetic changes. Our lives have purpose. As Ephesians 2:10 explains, “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

2. All mankind is level before God. Though you and I each have a unique, intentional purpose, we are all equally pinched off from a piece of clay. (Job 33:6) God has fashioned us each to look different, so that we might each accomplish the works which He has designed for us, but may we never boast as though we’re better than anyone else for we’re all jars of clay made by the same potter. May this truth keep us humble before God and before our fellow man.

Let’s pray.

Oh, Heavenly Father, what is man that You are mindful of us? You know that we are dust. We are but clay in Your skillful hands. You have a divine purpose for each of us. May that truth empower us to go and do the works that You have designed us for. Keep us humble as we remember that we are equally Your creation and give us courage as we remember that You have works prepared for us to do. In the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

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Praise the One who Gives Me Breath – Job 26-27 – 2025 Day 75

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Job 26-27, Psalm 43

Let’s just ponder this one verse from today’s reading.

With whose help
have you uttered words,
and whose breath has come out from you?

Job 26:4 ESV

On the sixth day of creation, the Lord breathed into the first man, Adam, the breath of life (Genesis 2:7) and He’s been doing it ever since. Why are we so prideful, so self-sufficient, thinking that we are independent creatures who don’t need God? Truly, what do I have that I haven’t been given? Even the very breath in my lungs is a gift from God.

And to think of the gift of language, of thinking and speaking and communicating – with God and with others – oh, what a gift! As an educator for the deaf, I witnessed first-hand how desperately children and parents desire to communicate, whether using gestures or sounds or facial expressions. My 100-lb Aussie-Labradoodle moose-dog is about as smart as animals come, but he can’t communicate nearly so well as my 20-month old granddaughter. God has given mankind a unique gift in the gift of language, so that we can hear from Him and speak to Him like none of the other creatures He has made on earth.

Psalm 150, the final psalm, is a psalm of praise, praising God with trumpets and harps and strings and pipes, praising Him with dancing and loud crashing cymbals, but oh the gift of singing words of praise and making declarations of spoken praise, telling of His mighty deeds! The Lord has put breath in my lungs and with it I will praise Him! As the final verse of the final psalm says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6) Will you join me in declaring aloud His greatness?!

Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, giver of life and breath, You are worthy of all our praise! You created the sun and moon and stars by Your will and by Your word. You hung the earth on nothing. You created the seas and everything in them. You created the earth and the sky and everything that fills them. What is man that you are mindful of us?

You are worthy of every word of worship, every song of praise, every beat of the drum, every blast of the trumpet, every clang of the cymbal. You are worthy! You are holy and mighty and good. All your ways are right and all Your ways are just.

We worship You in the glory of Your presence. We ask that You would make us vessels of Your glory and grace. We ask that You would make us declarers of Your praise! Use us, Lord! By the sacrifice of Your Son, we have been made temples of Your Holy Spirit. Make us pure and holy vessels for You.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord, we pray. Amen.

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Great are You Lord

The Humility of Joseph – 2025 Day 53 (Genesis 40-41)

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 21, Genesis 40-41

Joseph answered Pharaoh,
“It is not in me;
God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

Genesis 41:16 ESV

I love how God works within space and time to reveal Himself to people. Two years ago, just after I finished reading Genesis 40-41 for my daily Bible reading, I received an email about an article that was published by Premier Unbelievable about my testimony of coming to faith in Christ out of atheism. In reading Genesis 40-41, I was struck by Joseph’s humility, his insistence that it was God, not him, who revealed the meaning of dreams. Joseph easily could have become puffed up and patted himself on the back for his accomplishments, but he didn’t. You find this same humility in Daniel and Peter and John and Paul.

“Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.””

Daniel 2:19-23 ESV

“While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name–by faith in his name–has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.”

Acts 3:11-16 ESV

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ESV

I pray that I would do likewise, that when the Lord opens a door for me to speak or serve or act for His glory, that all the glory would go to Him and Him alone for He is the only one worthy. All that I am and all that I have, is a direct result of the grace that He has lavished on me, a sinner.

I am just a beggar telling you where to find bread. I am a sinner saved by grace. It is only by God’s mercy that I can do anything. He has caused me to be born again to this living hope, and I am eternally grateful. His grace compels me. His power gives me strength. His mercy allows me to be merciful.

Let’s pray together.

Oh, Heavenly Father,

Apart from Your grace, we are all just filthy rotten sinners. I remember all too well who I was. I wanted to be good, I wanted to do right, but I could never do it. Everything I did was tainted by conceit and pride and selfishness. I was lost and without hope. I lived under a cloud of fear and darkness.

BUT GOD! You saved me by Your grace. You took what was dead and made it alive. You took my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh. And all I can cry is HOLY! Worthy are You to receive all glory and honor and praise. Worthy is the Lamb. You are WORTHY!

My worth is not in myself – not in what I can say or do, not in what I have said or done – my worth is in YOU. You have made me worthy. You have called me YOURS. You have brought me into Your kingdom and set my feet on the rock. You have brought me to Your banqueting table and spread Your banner of love over me. Thank you, Father. Thank You.

In the Mighty and Merciful Name of Jesus I pray, Amen!

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My Worth is Not in What I Own – Fernando Ortega & The Gettys

Carried to the Table – Leeland

Learning from the Lives of Cain and Abel – 2025 Day 32 (Genesis 4-5)

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Psalm 1, Genesis 4-5

We don’t really know exactly why God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s, but I think Hebrews 11:4 gives us some insight.

“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.”

– Hebrews 11:4 ESV

Oftentimes, we want to do what seems right to us, rather than doing what God has said. We think, “What’s wrong with eating the fruit of that tree? It looks fine to me.” Or we think, “Why can’t I give God this fruit, I am a farmer after all?”

Yet, faith trusts God. Faith trusts that what God has said is right. Faith believes that God is good and all-knowing and that all His ways are right.

And like Hebrews 11:6 (explaining more about Abel and other men and women of faith) says,

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek him.”

– Hebrews 11:6

Who are we seeking? Whose reward do we desire? Who are we trying to please? Are we pursuing our own pleasure and comfort or are we pursuing the Lord?

It’s like the words of Christ that we read in John, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.” (John 12:25-26 ESV)

When we’re living for the Lord, we must expect the world to hate, rather than love, us  In fact, Abel’s life is an example for us. “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”  (1 John 3:12-13 ESV)

Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”

– Genesis 4:13 ESV

Were you taken aback when you read this? I was. When I first read this, I thought, “No, Cain, your punishment is much too light! You killed your brother. You deserve to be killed.” (In fact, Genesis 9:6 says just that.)

But as I’ve pondered it more, I see the foreshadowing of Christ bearing our sins, from the largest to the smallest. Cain deserved death for his sin, and though I’ve never murdered anyone physically, I deserve death for my sins, too. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 ESV)

I couldn’t bear the punishment for my sins any more than Cain (or anyone else) could, yet Christ bore our punishment in our place, that we might be forgiven by a just judge.

“[Jesus] committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

– 1 Peter 2:22-24 ESV

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father,

We come to You with hearts of thanksgiving for Your grace that You have lavished on us. We confess the hateful thoughts that we have had in our hearts toward men and women created in your image. We confess that we have often been jealous of others – The relationships they have, the talents they have, the possessions they have, even the faith they have. We confess we have often gone our own way rather than trusting Your character and Your Word.

We thank You for sending Jesus Christ, the only perfect sin substitute, the Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world, including me.We humbly ask You to forgive us and cleanse us through the blood of Christ that was shed for us.

Please, Heavenly Father, give us the strength and wisdom that we need to live like Christ – not repaying wrong with wrong, not repaying reviling with reviling, but overcoming evil with good. Help us to entrust ourselves to You, the only one who judges justly. We pray that our lights would shine brightly – even when the world is yelling at us to turn our lights out. May we shine brightly for You.

In the holy and merciful name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

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It is the Lord! – 2025 Day 21 (John 21)

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Read through the Bible in 2 years: Proverbs 21, John 21

"That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!'" - John 21:7a ESV

I love that John just can’t bring himself to use his own name, but refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” This reminds me that my value, like John’s, is found in being loved by Jesus, my Creator, Savior, and Lord who knows all of my shortcomings and sins, yet He still loves me.

"When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea." John 21:7b ESV

I can picture it in my mind. Peter heard, “It is the Lord,” and rather than questioning John, he immediately puts on his outer garment, and jumps into the sea to get to Jesus. He wants to see him first this time!

While everyone else is working on bringing in the boat – dragging a heavy net loaded full of fish – Peter just wants to be with Jesus. I wonder if John was frustrated, disgusted, or irritated with Peter’s irresponsible, impulsive response… Or did his heart leap with Peter’s, praising God for making Peter so easily excitable? I hope it was the latter. I want to be able to thank God for the variety of personalities and temperaments that He has given to His children.

After thinking about this, it was particularly ironic to me when I read later in the chapter about Peter pointing his finger at John, asking “Lord, what about this man?” (John 21:21 ESV)

Did Peter ask this out of love and concern for John or out of jealousy? Pride ? Conceit? I don’t have any idea, but I do know how Jesus responded to Peter’s question, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:22)

I want to hear Jesus’s words loud and clear and apply them to my own life. “Kim, beloved daughter, don’t worry about those other people.”

Jesus has a unique purpose for each of our lives. I need to keep my eyes focused on Christ, so I can follow Him well. If my eyes are looking over at my friend’s lane, how can I see clearly to drive in mine?

Let’s pray, sisters!

Heavenly Father,

Please help me not to be jealous, envious, covetous, or disdainful of my fellow servants or the tasks that You’ve given them to do. Help me to remember Ephesians 2:10, that I am Your workmanship and that I have been created on purpose for good works that You have prepared in advance for me to do.

Help me, Lord Jesus, to be about my Father’s business with eagerness and joy, not looking to the left or right, not looking behind, but with my eyes fixed firmly on Christ and the hope that is before me. Make me eager to trust and obey You, to look for You and listen carefully for Your voice.

In the blessed name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

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Division in the Body. Thoughts from 1 Kings.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 1 Kings 15-16

In a perfect world, there would be no division. Everyone would live at peace; there would be peace with nature, peace with man, and peace with God. And that is how God created the world. Everything God had created had a purpose, and everything fulfilled its purpose. There was perfect unity between Adam and Eve. They were one flesh, both naked and unashamed. Yet, that crafty deceiver crept in and planted a seed of doubt in the woman’s mind, whispering to her that God was not good and that she would be happier if she disobeyed Him. Sin entered in, and that perfect peace came to an end. There was no longer unity between men, between men and nature, or even between men and God Himself.

A chasm had been formed that could only be crossed
on the bridge of the blood of Christ.

Reading about the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, I was reminded of Christ’s words recorded in Luke 11:17, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.” Again and again, the Lord intervened to remove an evil king and establish a better one, but again and again sin prevailed and both Israel and Judah remained divided within and without. The horizontal relationship between men, as well as the vertical relationship with God, has been severed, and no human being, no matter how hard they try, can restore it.

As members of the human race, we long for peace. We long for peace within our families, and we long for peace between nations. We search high and low for that feeling of “shalom” in our hearts, but it is no where to be found.

It is only logical that there will be division in our earthly families and our earthly nations because our families and nations are made up of members of opposite teams. Like Cubs fans and Cardinals fans, we’re rooting for the opposite team to win. Truly, no one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). When you score a point for Satan’s team, you’re working against the Lord, and when you score for the Lord, you’re working against the evil one. I was reminded of Christ’s words in Luke 12:52-53 ESV — “For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” As much as I want there to be peace, I realize that is only possible when we’re playing on the same team and aiming at the same goal.

Heavenly Father, You are perfect. You dwell in perfect unity. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Three in one. I pray that Your body here on earth may we be one, even as You are one, so that the world may know that You, Father, sent Jesus Christ to save us and that You loved us even as You loved Him. (John 17:22-23) I pray that Your whole body will be joined and held together by every joint working properly, that the body may grow and built itself up in love (Ephesisans 4:16). I pray that every member of Your body will be bound together in perfect harmony as we love one another with the love that You first had for us (Colossians 3:14; 1 John 4:19) I pray that those who have a counterfeit faith will come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil so that they will hear on the last day, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” rather than, “I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness (2 Timothy 2:26; Matthew 25:21-23; Matthew 7:23). For Your glory and our good I pray in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

Loving the Unlovely. Brussel Sprouts, Ice Cream, Jesus, and Me. Thoughts from the Book of Hosea.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Hosea 3-4

If I asked a class of third grade students, “Raise your hand if you love ice cream.” I bet every hand would shoot up. 🙋🏿‍♀️🙋🏻🙋🏽‍♂️🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🙋🏾‍♂️

But if I then said, “Raise your hand if you love Brussel sprouts,” I’m quite sure I’d get a very different response. Even if I followed it up with words like, “They are really good for you! They’re high in fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.” Still, it’s a no. 🙅🏽‍♂️🙅🏼‍♀️🙅🏻🙅🏿‍♂️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅

It is only logical to love ice cream. It’s sweet and creamy and delicious.🍦😋 But Brussel sprouts … They are more of an acquired taste, suited for a more refined palate. 🥬 😝

I’m afraid that I sometimes think I’m naturally easy to love. I’m afraid sometimes I forget about all my prickly, hard to love spots. I’m afraid I see myself as ice cream, rather than Brussel sprouts.

When God tells the prophet Hosea to go love Gomer, a woman who chases after other men, refusing to remain faithful to her husband, I’m afraid that we all think we’re Hosea, not realizing that we’re actually Gomer. We are that adulteress, that whore, that woman who abandons her true love to pursue idols, and God is Hosea, the faithful One who again and again chases after His bride, pulling her out of the pig slop. 🥴🐖

In this is love,
not that we have loved God
but that He loved us and sent His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:10 ESV

Love covers a multitude of sins.

Love is not irritable or resentful or rude.

Love keeps no record of wrongs.

Love forgives.

Love never ends.

Love is steadfast and patient and faithful.

God loved us while we were sinners, and He calls us to go and do likewise.

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your steadfast, patient, faithful love toward me. Thank You for pursuing me, though I didn’t deserve it, though I don’t deserve it still. I’m not worthy, but You are. You deserve better. You deserve chocolate, chocolate chip ice cream with whipped cream and sprinkles and a cherry on top. And yet You have demonstrated Your love by sending Your own Son to be the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice, the substitutionary offering, for my sin. Praise Your Name forevermore. Amen.

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

God has a Plan and You have a Purpose: Thoughts from Amos 6-7

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Amos 6-7

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

Amos 7:14-15 ESV

God chose fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John. God chose shepherds like David, Moses, and Amos. God chose tax collectors like Matthew and Zacchaeus.

It’s not what you do from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday, or what family you were born into, that matters. It doesn’t matter how educated you are, or how much money is in your bank account. God calls and chooses whom He will according to His own plan and purpose.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 ESV

God chose Paul, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a prosecutor of Christians, to write these words,

“[God] saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness,
but according to his own mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit”

Titus 3:5 ESV

And to the church at Ephesus,

“For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

Heavenly Father, You didn’t choose me because I was rich or powerful or good. I wasn’t. I was a simple college student, a blasphemer and opponent of the gospel. I was Your enemy, slandering You and hurling insults at Your children, yet You plucked me out of the miry clay and planted my feet on the rock. You called me in spite of myself. Thank You. Thank You. Father, please, help me to love and pursue others like You loved and pursued me. Help me to love my neighbor as myself, loving them even while they’re drowning in sin. For the glory of Your Name and the growth of Your kingdom, in the name of Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord, Amen.

Seeing the Speck in Another’s Eye. Thoughts from 2 Samuel 12.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 2 Samuel 12

In reading 2 Samuel 12, I noticed how quick David was to say, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die,” not realizing that Nathan’s story about a rich man who stole a poor man’s little lamb was about him. How easy it is for me to see sin in others while willingly overlooking it in myself. That reminds me of one of my favorite parts of C. S. Lewis’s book, “Mere Christianity.”

I remember Christian teachers telling me long ago that I must hate a bad man’s actions but not hate the bad man: or, as they would say, hate the sin but not the sinner. …I used to think this a silly, straw-splitting distinction: how could you hate what a man did and not hate the man?

But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life — namely myself.

However much I might dislike my own cowardice or conceit or greed, I went on loving myself. There had never been the slightest difficulty about it…

Christianity does not want us to reduce by one atom the hatred we feel for cruelty and treachery.  We ought to hate them….  But it does want us to hate them in the same way in which we hate things in ourselves: being sorry that the man should have done such things, and hoping, if it is anyway possible, that somehow, sometime, somewhere, he can be cured and made human again.”

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Heavenly Father, Forgive me for being quick to judge and slow to serve. Forgive me for being quick to see the speck in my brother’s eye while being slow to see the log that is in my own. Help me, please, to labor diligently to dig that log out, so that I can help my brother and glorify You, my perfect king. Help me to heed the words of Galatians 6, that I would restore with gentleness my brothers and sisters who are caught in any transgression, helping to bear their burden with humility and wisdom. Give me wisdom to talk to my Christian sisters and brothers with boldness, compassion, love, and empathy, remembering the words of Titus 3 that I myself was once foolish, disobedient, and led astray, a slave to various passions and pleasures, passing my days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another, that I was not saved because of my own righteous works but according to Your own mercy. Help me to remember that apart from Your incredible grace, I could fall as hard and far and fast as David did. It is by Your grace that I stand and by Your grace that I pray. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother,
‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’
when there is the log in your own eye?
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye,
and then you will see clearly to take the speck
out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:3-5 ESV

One Wrong Turn Leads to Another: Thoughts on the Story of David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11.

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Read through the Bible in 2 Years: 2 Samuel 11

Have you ever gone to a corn maze (or a sorghum maze if you’re in the south)? I’ve taken my kids a few times and discovered I really don’t like them. I hate how easily one wrong turn can lead you down the wrong path, forcing you into another wrong turn and another, until you finally find yourself at a dead-end where you then have to try retracing your steps to get back where you were 30 minutes ago. I’m just not a fan. How about you?

In reading 2 Samuel 11, I couldn’t shake how many times someone could have made a different choice and changed the whole course of events. Chapter 11 begins with the words, “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.”

  • What if David simply had gone to battle instead of staying home?

Then David “arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of his home late in the afternoon.”

  • What if David had been commanding his armies or counseling his people?
  • What if David had spent the afternoon in prayer and Bible study?
  • So often in life it’s how we spend our leisure time that really trips us up!
  • When we’re worn out, worn down, and trying to relax, what do we do? What do we turn to? Food, Facebook, or the phone? Sex, shopping, or scrolling? How differently things could’ve been in David’s life if he’d spent his afternoon differently.

Then David sees a beautiful woman bathing.

  • Accidentally seeing someone bathing is not a sin, but what if this wasn’t the first time David had gone up to his roof and noticed Bathsheba.
  • Had David made an intentional choice to go up on his roof, hoping that he would see Bathsheba?
  • And what about Bathsheba? Was it really just an accident that she was bathing in the afternoon in such a place that the king who lived nearby would see here?
  • We don’t know, but how different things could’ve been if Bathsheba had bathed somewhere else or had been more careful to shield herself from David’s view.

And then David sent a messenger to find out more about the woman, and he is told that she is the wife of one of his mighty men, Uriah the Hittite.

  • Why did David send someone to find out more about her? Was he planning to take her as another wife or maybe a concubine?
  • But then, I wonder, how did David not know who she was? Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, one of his chosen mighty men (2 Samuel 23:8-9) the daughter of Eliam, also one of David’s chosen mighty men, (2 Samuel 23:34) the granddaughter of Ahithophel, one of David’s chief counselors (2 Samuel 23:34, 2 Samuel 15:12), and she lived near enough to David’s home that he can see her clearly from his roof. Did he really not know who that bathing woman was?
  • What if David had never inquired of her? David had more than enough wives already. Surely he didn’t need to find out anything about this beautiful young woman.

Next David sends someone to take Bathsheba to his palace and she becomes pregnant.

  • What if the messenger had refused to help David?
  • What if Bathsheba had refused to come, preferring shame, imprisonment, or even death to breaking her marital vows?
  • What if she had fled like Joseph had when Potiphar’s wife tried to get him to lie with her and he ended up in prison? (Genesis 39)
  • By the way, this phrase, “David sent messengers and took her,” reminded me of 1 Samuel 8 when the Lord warned the Israelites through the prophet Samuel about the troubles that a king would bring upon them. This same Hebrew word for “take” is used again and again in 1 Samuel 8. The king will take their sons and their daughter, their fields and their grain, their servants and their donkeys. And here, David, the king, has taken even the wife of one of his most valuable warriors.

Then David asks Joab to bring Uriah back home, hoping that Uriah would spend some time with his wife, so no one would find out how she had become pregnant.

  • Like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden after they had taken the forbidden fruit, David chose to hide his sin.
  • Maybe David was afraid of hurting his friend, Uriah.
  • Maybe David was afraid of losing his position as king.
  • Maybe David was simply afraid of losing face.
  • What if David had come clean at this point and repented of his sin?
  • What if David had brought Uriah home so that he could confess his sin to him and seek his forgiveness?
  • Proverbs 28:13 ESV says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Think of how differently this story would’ve ended if David had confessed his sin and sought mercy from Uriah and Bathsheba.

Next when Uriah refuses to go home to be with his wife, then David tells Joab to “set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down and die.” (11:15) and Uriah was killed in battle.

  • What if Joab had refused to be a party to this?
  • People might say, “Joab HAD to obey the king,” like they say that Bathsheba had to obey the king.
  • Don’t believe those lies. You DON’T have to do it. You don’t. Sure, you might get in trouble. Yes, you might face some embarrassment or other consequences, even severe, or life-threatening consequences, but no one ever has to choose sin.
  • Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3) because they refused to bow down to the king’s golden idol.
  • Daniel was thrown into a den of lions (Daniel 6) because he refused to stop praying.
  • God will always provide a way of escape (even if it’s death) that you may be able to withstand temptation. Read 1 Corinthians 10 for more on this.

David’s sin hurt lots of other people: Uriah, Bathsheba, the child Bathsheba bore, not to mention David’s other wives and David’s other children, as well as Joab and the Israelite army and the list goes on and on. But so does ours.

When we lie or cheat or boast or complain, we hurt other people.

When we think malicious thoughts about others and make plans in our minds to hurt them, we are hurting them as well as ourselves and others. We have got to remember that those people were made in the image of God and when we put our desires above them, it hurts them and it hurts God.

David knew that what he was doing was wrong. David knew the Ten Commandments. He knew it was sin to covet his neighbor’s wife and commit adultery, but he did it and then tried to cover it up. He knew God had said DO NOT MURDER. That’s why he had Joab arrange the murder for him.

Your sin might not look like David’s sin. Maybe you will never get another man’s wife pregnant or have anybody killed, but your sin separates you from God just as much as David’s sin did.

“For from within,
out of the heart of man,
come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Mark 7:21-23

God was displeased with David’s sin, and God is displeased with our sin, too. God made a way for David to be saved, and God made a way for us to be saved, too.

As we will read tomorrow, David’s innocent son died, but so did God’s. God sent His own Son in the flesh, Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, to be born as a human baby, to live a perfect and sinless life and to die on the cross to pay the punishment that our sins deserve. And He promises to us eternal, abundant, new life in Christ – AS SOON AS we trust in Him His Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, to be our ever-present help, our ever-present counselor … and for all eternity to dwell in heaven with Him.

David needed to repent, to turn away from his sins, and so do we. The only way we can do that is to place our trust in the Lord and seek Him for strength to overcome temptation moment by moment and day by day. David fell because he had stopped seeking God; his eyes were on earth instead of on heaven.

Let’s pray and ask God to help us to resist the devil and submit to Him.

Heavenly Father, I need Your help. I can’t do it on my own. My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak. Help me to trust You moment by moment. Help me to be so careful how I spend my leisure time. Help me to get the rest I need so I can be strong in the moment of temptation. Help me to resist the devil and submit to You. Help me to see that way of escape that You will provide for me each and every time. Help me to be in Your Word day after day, remembering that it is my weapon to fight against the devil. Help me to hold up that shield of faith so I can extinguish all the flaming darts that the evil one throws my way. Help me to fasten the belt of truth firmly around my waist and strap the breastplate of righteousness tightly to my chest. Give me the strength and courage I need to stand firm and fight this battle, so that I will not bring shame to Your name. I love You, Lord. You are worth the fight. Death is not the worst thing. Denying You whether in word or deed is. Help me, Lord, for the glory of Your Name. Amen.