2 Samuel 12: 7 "You are the man!"
This is not what you want to hear after the
prophet tells the story of a greedy, selfish
man! Once Nathan had told the story of
the "little ewe lamb" to David, he quickly
recognized the wickedness of the lead
character and immediately condemned and
judged him harshly and deservedly for his
sin. He could see this sin in other's
lives, but he refused to see it in himself.
The disobedient servant of the Lord is blind
to his own sin because he has been blinded
by his sin. He is being held by the
cords of his own sin (Pr. 5: 22), but is
quick to condemn others of the very sins he
has committed, in which he continues to
abide. God will not let this stand,
and his day of reckoning will come soon, and
it will come in this life.
God makes effective the law of reciprocity
for the believer IN THIS LIFE. We do
not receive eternal condemnation because of
the work of Christ on our behalf (Rom. 8:
1), but we will experience earthly
discipline for our works of wickedness in
this life--NOW! (Ps. 94: 12, Heb. 12:
5-6) When we do not experience immediate
condemnation and exposure for our sin, don't
think that we have somehow escaped God's
discipline! God will dispatch a
"Nathan" that will show up in our life at
just the "wrong" time and burst our selfish
self-deceived bubble. All the
pleasures that we somehow had enjoyed in our
sinful ways will quickly be forgotten, and
the high cost of our sinful ways will be
ever before our face as we experience
disgrace and humiliation. Had David
practiced what he had "preached" this
dreaded day followed by an equally dreaded
season would not have come? "Also keep
back your servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not rule over me; then I will be
blameless, and I should be acquitted of
great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation
of my heart be acceptable in your site, oh
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer!" (Ps. 19:
13-14) God desires greatly to bless us, BUT,
He will not be mocked especially by His
children! (Galatians 6: 6-7)
In Christ,
Tommy Middleton
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