Consequences of Sin

And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of Thy servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
1 Chronicles 21:8


Observation:
David went ahead and numbered the people of Israel, something that was clearly prohibited by the Law. Joab tried to bring the king back to senses and persuaded him unsatisfactory to relent his decision. But David was stubborn. This deal took 9 months and 20 days to unfold, and each day David had the opportunity to repent. When everything was done, David realized that his actions were sinful and recognized his sin and foolishness before the Lord.
What amazes me about this story is that God forgave David’s sin but there were still consequences that not only affected him as a king, but he entire people. 70,000 Israelites died in the course of a three-day plague. This speaks a lot about the way God provides forgiveness for our sinful actions. It reflects God’s character when it comes to dealing with our stubbornness.

Application:
To be honest, this event makes me uncomfortable when thinking about God’s mercy. David repented and still the consequences of his actions affected 70,000 innocent people. No wonder many skeptics hold this stories as negative PR for God. I’m disturbed by the fact that sincere forgiveness still carry on consequences about the poor decisions we have made. I’m like David in that sometimes I have to wait a lot in order to realize that I’m doing something wrong. I’m stubborn, slow to obey, and very optimistic about God’s grace. That’s why this story disturbs me so much.
Many people feel the same way about God and turn their feelings into negative attitude. But today I feel encouraged to turn my outrage and disturbance into a positive attitude. I hope I’m disturbed enough to be motivated to avoid sin. I don’t have to wait 9 months and 20 days to realize my foolishness and repent. I want to be quick to change my mind and diligent to keep my thoughts pure. I want to repent right away when the sinful ideas are contemplated, not after they become actions. Repentance before sinful actions protect those who se serve and love. Repentance after the sinful actions occur will affect others, weather we like it or not.


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please make disturbed enough about your character to the point of affecting my attitude towards temptation and sin. Please help me to repent before I commit a sinful act, not after. Have mercy on me, on those who I love, and in those who follow me. I have a lot of influence in people’s lives and I want to steward that influence well by living with integrity and moral character. Please help me to have reverence and fear of you in order to avoid sinful steps. Show me again the areas where I need to obey you and that I postponed, or neglected. Cause me to be motivated by a simple whisper of your voice and to obey you right away when you command something in my life. Amen.