My husband and I are the youth leaders at Victory
Church. I am also the librarian at
Conestoga Elementary School. Part of my
job as a librarian is to read the incoming new books. This summer I read a book called The Girl from
Felony Bay by J.E. Thompson. In the
last chapter of the book the main character, Abbey, reflects on her experiences
and she has some pretty profound things to say.
Can I just say that passage hit me pretty hard? Honestly, it sums up our life on this earth
pretty well. It all comes down to
choices. Little choices every single day
that lead up to who we are & we will become. I especially love the line, “and I need to
get smarter so I’ll be able to tell the difference between good ones and bad
ones. It’s clear that a lot of people,
even adults, get pretty confused about which choices to make.”
You see, no one is immune – every day we make choices. Some are easy – what to eat for breakfast,
what to wear to school, should I study for the test tomorrow? Others are more complicated: do I obey my parents even when I don’t agree
with them? Do I befriend the outcast? How do I forgive the wrongs done to me? Fortunately for us, God has given us the
answers in His very own book – the Bible.
Do you want to learn how to make good choices? How to avoid the bad ones? This is the place to find them. Everything from “What should I wear?” to “How
do I forgive?” is discussed between the covers of this book.
Of all the reading I do – the words in this book are the
most important. In fact, as I finished The
Girl from Felony Bay & I pondered those last few paragraphs, I came
across one of my favorite Bible stories – strike that, I don’t like the word
“Story” when talking about the Bible. It
implies a fictional account rather than a historical one. So, let me rephrase that – I came across one
of my favorite biblical events in 2
Samuel 11. Those of you familiar
with 2 Samuel know that it records the reign of King David. David as you will recall was anointed as a
child to become the new king of Israel after Saul turned his back on God. Now, at this point, David could have become haughty
and prideful – after all, he was to become the new king. But he didn’t. He stayed humble and obedient. Even when he killed Goliath, even when he
became famous for his successes in battle.
In fact, he even stayed humble and obedient when Saul’s jealousy of
David drove Saul mad & he hunted David throughout Israel. He stayed humble and obedient when he was
finally crowned king. Each of these
little choices, every step of the way, from childhood into adulthood built
David’s character and wisdom. Each
choice, and with it, each consequence or outcome, solidified who David was, how
he thought, and what was important in his life.
He was renowned as a good king, a successful king, a godly king. And then we come to 2 Samuel 11. King David is embattled in a war with the
Ammonites. One evening he heads up to
his rooftop to think, to contemplate, to relax.
As he’s strolling around his rooftop, he spots a beautiful woman
bathing. He stops, he ponders, he thinks
on what he sees & then he inquires after the woman. After he learns that she is Bathsheba, the
wife of Uriah, he has her brought to his chambers and he sleeps with her. Afterward, he sends her on her way. He washes his hands of the deed. No one knows, so he’s gotten away with it. Right?
Nope. Bathsheba soon sends word
that she is pregnant. Oops.
Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, is at war. There are witnesses that can know David spent
time with her. Everyone is going to know
of his sin. He is caught. But wait, David sends for Uriah. He brings him home, gives him a reprieve from
the war. Tells him to go home &
relax with his wife. But Uriah, poor Uriah,
is an upstanding guy, a faithful soldier.
He refuses to seek rest and relaxation when the rest of Israel's soldiers are still at war. Ugh.
So what does David do? How does
he get out of this mess? He has Uriah killed
in battle. After Uriah’s death, David
marries Bathsheba. Now he’s really
gotten away with it right? The child can
be claimed as his own with no questions asked.
After all, he is Bathsheba’s husband.
David has saved his reputation.
No one is the wiser. Right?
So why is this one of my favorite events in the Bible? After all, it is a tale of lust, lies, and
murder. What kind of person am? Well, I love that God saw fit to record these
events because it reminds me that no one is immune to sin. We all face temptation, but how will we
respond? David responded with humility
and obedience for the majority of his life.
But in this instance, he gave into temptation. See, David’s sin doesn’t start with adultery. It starts with lust. With that small decision to stop and start,
to imagine. David could have simply
walked away. But he didn’t. He made a small choice to stop, and that
choice lead to another choice, which lead to another. And so on and so forth. It’s so easy to talk ourselves into that one
little sin. After all, no one will
know. Who will it hurt anyway? So, you give in. Just this once. But that choice leads to another, and
another, and so on and so forth.
I can identify with David.
I was a church girl. I gave my
life to Jesus Christ when I was 13. I
was a leader in youth group, I taught Sunday School. I knew the Bible. I could talk the talk and walk the walk. And then, somewhere around my junior year I
started making small choices. Choices
that I knew didn’t line up with my faith, but they were just small things
really. A concert here, a small lie to
my parent’s there. A skimpy outfit, a
drink at a friend’s house. Pretty soon I
was talking the talk, but I was no longer walking the walking. I had become two different people. The godly girl on Sundays and Wednesdays and
the party girl the rest of the week. My
grades went downhill, along with my relationship with my parents. I won’t go into all the gory details, but
shortly after high school I found myself living with my boyfriend, who to be
quite honest, I didn’t even really like.
But hey, I was having fun, right?
I was living my life by my rules & things were kind of working
out. And then I found out I was pregnant
& my world came crashing down. A
light bulb went on & I suddenly saw my life very clearly. I was starting down a road of complete
destruction unless I made some big changes.
David experienced a very similar wake up call. Nathan the prophet paid David a visit &
woke him up to the realities of his choices.
I love how subtle Nathan begins this confrontation. (And I can’t read this passage without
thinking of Veggie Tales, but that is beside the point.) Nathan tells a parable. Let’s read the account in
2 Samuel 12:1-6 – It’s
funny how well we can deceive ourselves when we want don’t want to face the
reality of our own making. David is so
in denial, he just doesn’t get it. Now
Nathan lays down the hammer.
2 Samuel 12:7-9 – Boom,
every sin David tried so hard to cover up is laid bare before him. So, what did David do? He repented.
I love that word – repent. In
Greek the word repent literally means, “to think
differently afterwards.” It’s not just
saying you’re sorry because you’re sorry you got caught. It is to actually understanding that you did
something wrong and to change the way you think about that action.
After my wake up call, I absolutely thought
differently. I changed the way I
dressed, the music I listened to, my friends, my entire way of life. I stopped thinking of church as a bi-weekly
commitment and started thinking of it as a life-line, a support system, an
accountability partner. God was no
longer some aloof being I was supposed to listen to, but a loving Father who
wants the best for me. And I didn’t make
these changes to make myself look better, or to gain acceptance, but because my
way of thinking has been completely altered.
When I think back on that old way of life, all I see is
destruction. I can only thank God that
He offered me a way out of that lifestyle.
That He lead me to peace and joy.
And He will do the same for you.
It just comes down to those little choices. Which way will you go? Which path will you walk down? But remember – it’s the little choices. The daily, sometimes hourly, sometimes minute
by minute choices that you make. See,
David repented of his sin, but that didn’t keep him from making some other
foolish choices. The same goes for
me. My light bulb moment didn’t make me
perfect. It didn’t stop trials and
temptation from knocking on my door. And
sometimes I give in. I make the wrong
choice and I find that I must repent of another sin. But that is what is so awesome about
God. He just stays with me – nudging me,
guiding me, forgiving me, helping me to grow stronger in my faith, to stand up
against the temptations in life. He’ll
do the same for you – all you need to do is ask Him.
I would like to conclude by reading a passage of yet another
book. I told you I read a lot of
books. I actually read this book just
this weekend. As I was finishing it, I
had a quiet chuckle with God because I believe He put this book in my hands at
just the right time – just when I was pondering this talk, what I would share
with you, how I would wrap it up. See,
when it comes to making choices, God is right there to help. When I talk to Him, share my day with Him, my
trials, my triumphs, and especially when I listen to Him – it is easier to hear
His still small voice. It becomes
natural to see His hand in your life, to walk in the way He is guiding, to make
the good choices.
The passage comes from Juniper Tree, a tale of terror and
temptation by M.P. Kozlowsky.
“There will always be temptation, wherever we go in life,
with whatever we do. There will always
be an easier way out. But there’s
nothing to gain from that. We have to
overcome such urges; we have to be stronger.
I fought hard and I won.”
Reminds me of 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Good words in which to aspire. So keep on making those good choices, keep
reading your Bible. And above all, focus
on your relationship with God. If you do
these things you will find that you have gained the understanding and the tools
needed to tell the difference between the good choices and the bad ones.
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