My joy at your responses...

Hi people, thank you so much for all your encouraging words and comments. I see them all and I am so grateful. It’s funny how whenever I get back home each day, I rush…not to the kitchen for food, or to the living room for TV…but straight to my laptop to see what I’ve missed on MCLA and on Blogsville generally. I actually have it as an app on my phone but it’s never the same as being able to sit down and have a proper look at what has been going on in my absence. I think I’ve found my passion *sigh*

Anyways, on to the matter at issue today…

Yesterday night, well, more like this morning at about 1:30 am, my big sister/friend and I were having this conversation that I found so interesting and upon which I will dwell in a future post. Today, however, I shall be touching on an aspect of it. By now, you probably all know how much I love David. As in, I have deep love and admiration for him. He stood out in all areas. And most of all, he made mistakes. I love the Joseph and Daniel type of people but there’s something attractive about someone who has a story, someone who fell but has now risen again. Someone we all can relate to. Please, get me not wrong, there are loads to learn from Joe and Danny but the fact that there is NO single record of them doing anything wrong in the entire Bible, not even stealing-meat-from-the-cooking-pot type of sin, makes them on a different level. I learn from them a lot too but David is just a favourite of mine. I was rummaging through the story of David as King and the whole episode of him sighting a nude Bathsheba caught my eye again. This story can be found in 2 Samuel 11 but I’ll do a quick recap.

In those days, there was a particular time of the year when kings went out to war with the rest of their battalion. It was the rule and every king observed it religiously. However, this particular year, David was not in the mood. He decided to chill at home and instead ensured that his trusted men such as Joab were there. They were doing a good job so far and had succeeded in destroying the Ammonites and taking Rabbah siege. So, he probably felt comfortable…at least all was going well.

Bathsheba

One evening, David goes to his balcony to relax. Lo and behold, what does he see? A baffing bathing Bathsheba! Instantly, he was drawn to her, made quick enquiries about her and eventually slept with her. She got preggers. Once David found out, he sent for her husband, Uriah, who was also a soldier and tried to get him drunk so that he would go home and then sleep with his wife and they could then pin the belle pregnancy on him.

Uriah, however, was an extremely principled, no nonsense man. He got drunk, quite alright. But, he refused to go home and sleep with his wife (correct me if I’m wrong but I think soldiers, like footballers are not meant to be receiving or rendering due benevolence to their wives when on a mission). Uriah decided to sleep where the king’s servants slept that night. David was livid! His plan wasn’t working. So he decided to look for Plan B. Plan B was gruesome. It involved organising Uriah’s death. This one worked and that was the beginning of troubles in David’s kingdom and personal life. The problems that David had to face were many…

He eventually married Bathsheba but despite his fasting and prayers, the little child she bore unto him died of an illness. His son, Absalom slept with his wives on the rooftop and tried to take his kingdom from him. Another one of his sons, Amnon fell in love and raped his own sister, Tamar (David’s daughter). If you read the story of David, you will be amazed that he went through so much problems and yet God was still saying that he was the man after His heart. Something does not quite follow. How could God let a man after His heart go through so much pain? How? Why?

 

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This is one lesson I have learned: Never take God’s love for granted. Don’t be thinking because He loves me, nothing bad can happen. If you mess up, something bad can definitely happen. God loved David so much, yet David still had to pay for his indiscretions. I also learned that God’s grace will cover you where ever He sends you. God sent David to war. He decided, ‘no, I’d rather stay home’. So many times, we are not where we should be. This opens us up to all manners of temptations. Had we been where we ought to be, we will definitely be fortified against the temptations that may arise. But in the situation where we are rebelling against authority, we are exposed. There is no assurance that when our Bathsheba is bathing outside, we would not be drawn to her and fall.

On a random note, sometimes I wonder about Bathsheba too. Why did she choose that location to go and have a bath knowing the vantage point it posed from Kind David’s veranda? Why? Looks to me that the woman knew what she was up to jare…

From the passage, I also learned that one unconfessed sin will lead to more sins and this time, ‘bigger’ ones. In David’s case, disobedience led to lust which led to adultery which led to scheming which eventually led to murder.

Sin never starts big. The devil is way too wise for that. He will never approach that nice sweet girl to sleep around. He knows she will blatantly refuse and banish him to blazes. So he will begin by telling her not to judge those girls who are rumoured to be ‘bad’ girls on campus. They might not be so bad after all. Next, he will tell her to hang out with them once in a while, ‘you could even share the Word of God with them’. Next, they will invite her out and he will tell her, ‘didn’t Jesus go to sinners’ houses to eat? Go with them and let them see Jesus in you. Let your light so shine so that they will glorify God in you’. From there, they will introduce her to drinking. The first day, she may refuse. The next time, it will be Gordon’s Spark or Alcohol with a lot of Red Bull so ‘there’s no big deal’. And gradually, she will fall. By the time she starts acting like them, she would have totally forgotten how it all began.

Falling is always a carefully strategised and calculated ploy of the enemy. Please don’t ever pull the ‘I’m strong. I can handle it’ card. You are NOT strong and you CANNOT handle it. The devil has been around for ages. Based on the simple ‘wisdom coming with age’ rule, he knows way more than you. He has seen your type over and over again and has devised methods that are almost fool-proof. This is why you should not try wrestling with the devil or putting yourself in temptation’s way by preparing a way for sin. Once the hedge is broken, the serpent will slip in.

Anyways, that is what I have gathered from the David and Bathsheba saga. God, in His Almightiness still brought the next King, Solomon, through Bathsheba and not any of David’s earlier wives. However, all the curses that God pronounced on David through Nathan came to pass. This reminds me of the fact that unto whom much is given, much is expected. God probably felt that David should know better which is why he wasn’t spared.

Since only God can keep us in check through His Word, we need to totally rely on Him and not on our own strength. Remember, by strength shall no man prevail. Pastors have fallen so please don’t think you cannot fall for the wiles of the devil. The only way you can prevent yourself from sinning is by putting on the entire armour of God and being on your guard AT ALL TIMES. No slacking. Remember, when men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares…

 

*off to stalk Tolu’s and Gbemisoke’s blogs*

 

The blog stalker!

 

By now, you probably have realised that my title is totally off. I’m random like that, hehehe…

 

That’s all folks (for now)

Temiville.xoxo

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