Have
you ever been ashamed of yourself? Have you ever wished your
backbone was a little more like titanium instead of rubber?
Have you ever wished you could redeem time? Why? What did
you do, or fail to do that was so shameful? When were you
too flexible, and complicit with the world in regard to your
faith? How did you compromise your convictions with worldly
ambitions and desires? We have ALL fallen short of the glory
of God. We have ALL made concessions to the world when we
should have been taking a stand for righteousness. Consider
King David in the Bible. He was a righteous man with a very
impressive record when it came to conquering the enemies of
God. However, he also became complacent, perhaps even a
little bored with it all. Consequently, he decided he
needed a little rest and relaxation. Instead of leading his
army into another battle with the enemy, he decided to have
a "Calgon" moment. Unfortunately, he didn't lose
himself in a nice warm bubble bath of his own...he lost
himself in the "Calgon" moment of another!
Literally, he was "taken away" from the purpose
God had created him to fulfill! He lost sight of God while
gaining sight of one of God's creations! He was thusly
distracted because he made a conscious decision to look down
instead of look up! Being the king God had anointed, he felt
entitled to do as he pleased in regard to that creation.
After all, he had fought hard! He deserved a reward for all
of his efforts...and besides...HE WAS THE KING! A king
shouldn't be denied! What ensued next was one of the lowest
moments in David's life. In exchange for an evening of
sensual indulgence, David compromised the very faith that
had put him in the palace! He sinned against His God,
against Bathsheba and Uriah, against the Israelites, and
against himself. What happened next, is the most common
problem in relation to shameful sin...he tried to cover it
up. After learning there was a new life which had begun as a
result of his impropriety., he tried HIS best to pretend it
never happened. He knew how repugnant his sin was. He knew
his sin would bring more shame and pain on Bathsheba and
Uriah (and himself), if he didn't do something to conceal
it. As you probably know, his best efforts failed! No matter
how hard he tried to get the valiant Uriah (the Hittite) to
enjoy a night with his wife on an unscheduled leave...he
would not. As a matter of fact, at one point, Uriah looked
David in the eye and declared his undying loyalty to him,
his men, and God by saying, "Shall I then go to my
house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you
live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this
thing". Incredible devotion! The kind of devotion which
surely burned David's sense of conviction! David had seen
that look in Uriah's eyes before...he had seen it in the
mirror in years past! David had been such a man of undying
loyalty to God. David had not killed King Saul when he had
the opportunity because of that loyalty! Yet as he looked
into the eyes of Uriah, I believe he saw the heart of God
for HIM! Who loves us more than God?! Who believes in us,
and is willing to stand with us through thick and thin? Who
was willing to endure the suffering of the cross for the
very ones who were torturing Him?! Jesus! The Bible asks in
Romans 2:4, "...Do you despise the riches of His
goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that
the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" It must
have been so much harder for David to grapple with the idea
of having committed such a heinous sin against such a
chivalrous man! Why even after David got him drunk, Uriah
would not waver in his commitment to honor and duty!
Nevertheless, the die had been cast! The game had to be
finished. David sent Uriah back to the frontlines of battle,
bearing his own death warrant! I believe had Uriah known it
was orders for his own death, he STILL would have faithfully
delivered the message to Joab! Why?! Because, that's what
kind of man Uriah was! Uriah was a champion of champions! He
was who David was failing to be! Uriah was a pure military
man. He was not entangled in civilian affairs. King David on
the other hand was an impure military man who had entangled
himself in a civilian affair! Don't think for a moment that
David wasn't under powerful conviction. On the contrary, he
was under so much conviction, that he was willing to murder
Uriah to make it ALL GO AWAY! Uriah died...but he left a
legacy. Uriah was effectively removed from the scene...but
he left an indelible impression on David! Uriah was never
complicit with anything that detracted from his sense of
honor and duty. He was focused on one thing...the battle at
hand! King David had lost that focus. He had focused on his
own perceived needs. He had concentrated his efforts on
obtaining what belonged to another. As a result he incurred
great shame, pain, and regret! Oh that we would learn from
David's life! Yes, David was a man after God's own
heart...most of the time! Undoubtedly he loved God. Yet,
when he disengaged himself from God's will, and pursued his
own will, he strayed from God's heart. Ask yourself this
question..."Am I better than King David?" "Am
I more capable than him?" If you're like me, you
answered, "No", to both questions. So how can we
be like more like Uriah? How can we be more loyal to God?
How can we be pure spiritual warriors? How do we avoid being
entangled in civilian affairs? There's only one way. We must
keep looking up! We must resolve through the power of the
Holy Spirit to look away from sin, and look toward Jesus!
The very same way King David pursued a relationship with
Bathsheba, and silenced Uriah once and for all. We must
pursue our relationship with Jesus! We must silence our
fleshly desires! We must be relentless! We can't decide to
take a break from the battle. Yes, we need to acknowledge
that the battle belongs to God like King Jehoshaphat
did...but we shouldn't remove ourselves from it! If we
retreat into the spiritual palace of complacency, we will
become distracted from what is truly important! We will
begin to become entangled in a raging battle of the flesh!
We must not allow that to happen. We must be like Uriah...totally
resolute...totally committed...totally non-complicit and
non-compliant with what this world is telling us! We must
refuse to enjoy sin for a season. We must refuse to kick
back and relax when our sin nature is trying to kick in!
Jesus Himself was tempted by the enemy. He defeated the
enemy with God's Word and the power of the Holy Spirit! We
too must fight as Jesus fought! We too must daily commit
ourselves completely to God...to His will! We too must pray
for His Kingdom to come, knowing that this kingdom of earth
is temporary. The sin we enjoy today, (though it can be
forgiven through repentance as we call on the name of
Jesus), may very well produce a lifetime of repercussions
affecting so many more than just ourselves! King David's sin
hurt a lot of people! Just to name a few...the sword has
still not departed the house of David! The child produced by
David's sin died. David's son Absalom murdered his
brother Amnon, and later died after he tried to overthrow
his dad's kingdom. All of these examples were directly
related to David's sin with Bathsheba! May we understand how
important it is to serve God with a whole heart! May we seek
first His Kingdom, and His righteousness! King David did
repent. He did get his eyes back on God. We would be remiss
to not acknowledge that David did do a lot of good during
his life. However, I believe he always regretted most the
day he took his eyes off of the goal of glorifying and
obeying God, to indulge the lust of his flesh. I pray that
we realize how easy it can be to be complicit with the world
when our eyes have strayed from Him. I pray we will admit
and confess our sins instead of trying to cover them up. May
we remember, that though we may bury something, it will
still stink everytime
it gets uncovered. May the Holy Spirit convict us of those
things we have tried to hide. May we respond with repentance
and not just more efforts to conceal. When David was finally
confronted by the Lord through the prophet Nathan, he
repented. Sadly, had he repented immediately there on his
balcony overlooking the kingdom, maybe Uriah and Bathsheba
could have lived happily ever after. We know his own family
woes and other judgements pronounced upon him through Nathan
could have been avoided. Remember, its only through the
precious blood of Jesus that those decaying sins of
complicity can be obliterated! Nothing you or any other
person can do will make it right. It will always be wrong
until God sets it right...and He is awaiting your response.
Get out the stink. Allow the Holy Spirit to remove the
skeletons from your spiritual closet. May we desire above
all else to be a sweet smelling aroma in the nostrils of our
God. May the fragrance of Christ be what the world smells in
us! May we be unashamedly non-complicit with sin! Until next
time, may you be blessed with God's BEST!
Your
Partner In Ministry,
Greg McCowen
Covenant Life Fellowship - Lubbock
Church - (806) 771-4244
