This week I preached about David and his sin with Bathsheba. If you read the story in 2 Samuel 11, you’ll find out that there is more than one act of sin in the story. There is a series of sinful acts that David adds to a difficult situation before God reveals his heart to him.
There is a very important truth here to recognize about sin’s impact on our lives. Sin is much more than event that comes for a moment and is left in the past. It is better described as a continuing path.
Sin rarely, if ever, remains an isolated event. It springs into another sin, which leads to another, and another. An easy example of this is lying.
When you tell a lie, you springboard onto a road of continual effort. What were the details of the lie? Who did you tell it to? Who might you have to repeat it to? Who do you have to keep in the loop so you don’t get caught? What other lies do you have to tell to keep it going? Does everyone have all the same details, or have you only given different people parts of the whole, and you have to make sure everything comes together in the end?
In the example of David and his sin with Bathsheba, his initial sin was his desire for her. Jesus said, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). His desire led him to ask about her, then to bring her to himself, then to commit adultery, then to attempt to cover up (lie) about what happened, then to have her husband killed (murdered) in battle.
How far down the path of destruction will we allow our sin to take us? We must find a way to exit sin’s highway and return to the path where we are sensitive and obedient to God’s will.
For encouragement and help on turning from sin, back to a right relationship with God, listen to the sermon series, “Return to the House of God” on iTunes and online.
Chris MacKinnon 