Shepherd To King-Day 14

11 Sep Shepherd To King-Day 14

Scripture: 2 Samuel 11:26-27-NLT- “When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. When the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to the palace, and she became one of his wives. Then she gave birth to a son. But the LORD was displeased with what David had done.”

I encourage you to read the full story here: 2 Samuel 11; Psalm 51

Observation: This passage describes the aftermath of David falling into sin. Bathsheba becomes pregnant, and to cover his actions, David has her husband killed on the frontlines of battle. This shows how easy it can be to fall into sin and the difficulty of trying to cover it up, instead of confessing to God.

Application: If you love taking road trips, there’s one thing you might bring on your journey: a GPS. Sometimes when I’m headed somewhere and I think I know where I’m going, I shut off my GPS. I’m sure you’ve been in a similar situation where you felt like you could trust your instinct to lead you in the right direction, but you ended up making a wrong turn. When we’re no longer relying on our GPS to recalculate, we eventually have to stop and ask ourselves, “Where am I, and how did I get here?” And when we’ve gone a long distance in the wrong direction, it can be much harder to get back on track.

We see this with David. After becoming King of Israel, he gets caught up in his role and no longer relies on his GPS: God. And in David’s case, we see the consequences of his sin quickly surface. Ultimately, the Bible makes it clear that the Lord was not pleased with David.

Here’s the thing about sin: it’s easy to go in the wrong direction because there are many wrong paths that the world offers. But, eventually we realize that we did not reach our desired destination. Temptation can often cause the standard of God’s best to become less clear, making it harder to turn back to him. Sometimes it’s harder to turn back to God when we still believe that there is more that the world can offer us, rather than when we’ve reached rock bottom and there’s no one else to turn to but him.

But there’s good news. The Bible says in 1 John 1:9 that “… if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” So, how do we avoid getting to that point?

Habitual sin creeps in as we give in to small temptations. Then, as we grow comfortable with that sin, the line that we previously established keeps moving until eventually, we’re giving into bigger and bigger temptations. It may not be as life-altering as David’s sin (although many of us may have had very tough experiences), but God has provided a way for us to avoid falling into sin. And it’s simple. Always go to him in times of temptation. Don’t wait until you can no longer handle it yourself, you are in too deep, or you can’t be convinced to turn back. The truth is, we can’t resist the temptation of the enemy on our own. We need the Lord’s strength. And how do we receive the strength of the Lord? Just ask him. Use your GPS!

Prayer: Dear God, I thank you for endless opportunities to turn from my sin and continue on the path you’ve set out for me. I pray that you would give me the strength not only to resist temptation, but to turn to you when I want to choose worldly alternatives instead of your way. I know that there’s not much I can do on my own, so I thank you for giving me the power of the Holy Spirit to help me not fall into sin and for continuing to be my guide. Amen.

Next Steps:

• Come back for Day 15 
• If you’re struggling with easily falling into sin, I’d encourage you to join a J-Group. The benefits of getting around other people going in the same direction as you are invaluable. It’s extremely beneficial to find other believers that will listen to you, keep you accountable, and consistently encourage you with the Word of God.
• Take some time during your slot and spot to ask God for direction. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to navigate life and avoid sin when we don’t know which way we’re supposed to go. Ask God that he would keep you on the correct path.
• Check out this message from our Lead Pastor, Mark Johnston, “Don’t Tempt Me” from the This Is War series.

Shayla Hatchett/Communications Team Leader

Shayla Hatchett has been attending The Journey for two and a half years and has recently stepped into a new role as Development Team Leader on the Communications Team. She loves using her gifts to serve those in the church, and outside of church loves writing, exercising, listening to music, and hanging out with her family and friends.