Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ “
2 Samuel 12:10-12 NIV
One of the blessings of an example is that it makes mistakes avoidable. Because you have seen it done by someone, you can learn from it. That way, all the mistakes would be avoided. Moreover, the character of the bible we want to examine is very popular. We want to look at the power of consequences even for generations to come. Let’s look at the actions of David, the man after God’s heart. Moreover, David is a personal favourite of mine. He exemplified life as something that can be real and open with God. However, though David always went back to God after he had done something wrong, there were consequences to his actions. The consequences were steep and affected his lineage.
David slept with Bathsheba and killed her husband, Uriah, to marry her after the man was no more eventually. If not for the fact that God went to him, he did not lose a night of sleep. He sincerely thought that he could go free. There was no form of remorse until God came to him. The baby that was conceived died. The sword will never depart from your house in his life. His children hurt and killed themselves. He soon took his wives in the purview of the public. He reaped everything he sowed. Although he repented, he reaped everything.
After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
2 Samuel 11:27 NIV
Another thing David did was to count the children of Israel after God gave express instructions not to do it. So, his actions caused a national pestilence that killed a lot of people. David’s actions came back to haunt him even through his children.
Note that your actions have consequences. Your actions are not personal to you only. It affects other people; it affects you too. Why should we indulge in things that will cause damage? Some of the damages are not repairable. So, the best bet is to live a life that completely fears the Lord and will not do anything wrong. It is possible. Jesus lived that life. Joseph was about that life. Even Daniel lived a life worth complete emulation. Moreover, the devil is patiently waiting for the day you will trip off the path of righteousness. Why will you stay in the vicinity of sin? Why will you walk in the path of the sinner that will make you see what is not meant for you?
Let us pray and receive grace—the grace of singleness of sight, a grace that will keep our feet from slipping away in unguarded moments.
