2 Samuel 11

Is it weird that this is one of my favorite Bible stories?  It's full of lies, cover-ups, adultery, and murder.  So, why do I like it?  Well, because it shows us how powerful a simple choice can be.  See, temptation will always come knocking on your door.  Everyday you will face new choices - how will you proceed?  Will you fall into sin or will you walk away?  A lot of times, we think that giving in won't be that bad.  After all, no one will know, right?  And really, who's going to get hurt?  The story of David and Bathsheba shows us just how slippery a slope sin can be.

See, David's just taking a walk & he sees a pretty woman, a bathing pretty woman.  Now, David is faced with a choice - keep walking & stop thinking about what he just saw, or stop, stare & keep thinking.  Being attracted to the woman wasn't the sin.  Stopping and thinking about what he would like to do with the woman was the sin.  That sin led him to call Bathsheba to his room, where he committed adultery with her.  After the fact, he sent her away thinking no one knows, no harm, no foul.  He thought he could just move on.  Well, next thing he knows, Bathsheba is pregnant & there's no way the baby is her husband's, he's at war.  So David invites him home, tells him to take a break and spend some time with his wife.  He's hoping that he can claim the baby is Uriah's, not his.  But, Uriah is an upstanding man.  He refuses to rest and take comfort when his fellow soldiers are facing hardship.  So, what does David do?  He has Uriah killed in battle.  Then he takes Bathsheba as his wife.  Yikes.

So remember, where did it all start?  Not at the act of adultery, it started back when David was walking and the choice he made to fantasize about Bathsheba.  That one choice forever changed the lives of David, Bathsheba, and Uriah.  As we will see as we continue to read, even more lives will be effected by this sin.

David's sin reminds us that there is no such thing as a small sin.  So, as you walk through this week and through the rest of your life, remember that every choice is the precipice of a slope.  Are you going to throw yourself down the slope, or are you going to turn away and stay on the safe path?