Bible Study: 2 Samuel 15, 13
to 30; 16, 5 to 13. And Mark 5, 1 to 20.
Good morning my dear people of God.
Happy New Week and Happy New Month to you all. It is the second month of the
year and if you can read this, it means you are alive and that is enough reason
to just be happy and give thanks to God Almighty. This week our readings shall
be presenting us with some very hard and bitter truths some of which might be too
difficult to swallow and some of which might move us to tears.
Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of
motion states that: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This
law is so true that it can be applied to every aspect of life. Today we read
about how David found himself running for his own dear life. He was running not
from some great enemy from another kingdom but from his own son, Absalom. This
is David who was considered to be the greatest king that ever reigned,
everything was going on well for him until he sinned.
Here comes the bitter truth for
today: Every sin carries with it an equal and opposite punishment. By the very
fact that David took what belonged to another man, that which was his own was
taken away from him. I was shocked when I read the full story of how Absalom
his own son, dealt with David to the point that what David did in secret, Absalom
did in the open view of all Israel.
We must bear in mind that by avoiding
sin, we are not doing God a favour! God has told us to avoid sin because he
loves us and knows what is best for us. So if we decide to give in sin, we must
be prepared for the consequences. One may then ask: “Where does mercy come in?”
“Can’t I just go for confession and get pardon.” Woe to us if we hide under the
guise of confession to commit sin.
Come to think of it, did David beg
for pardon? Didn’t he put on sackcloth and rubbed ashes upon his head? Did he
not fast for three days without eating any food? But did all that prevent what
we read in today’s reading? We just have to face the truth. Yes, God is
merciful and we can always go for confession but as Chinua Achebe would say: “The
man who brings home ant infested firewood should not complain when lizards
start to visit.”
Another bitter truth surfaces in our
Gospel passage this morning: That we humans prefer money to God! We would
rather loose Jesus than lose our wealth and investments. After Jesus cured
legion, the demoniac, the evil spirits rushed into the herd of swine and all two
thousands of them rushed into the seas and drowned. The people came around and
instead of them to rejoice that the man had been set free, they considered the
huge economic loss and BEGGED JESUS TO LEAVE THEIR TOWN.
How often do we drive Jesus away from
our business arena?
If you were to choose between all the
wealth you have and Jesus, which would you go for? If religion demands losing
all you have, how many of us will still be Christians? How often do our prayers
centre around increment in wealth thereby making money our ultimate concern and
God our wealth provider or ATM machine. You know we don’t value the ATM
machine, instead it is the money it produces we value. The truth is that God is
saying to us, you must love me and value me more than every other thing in
existence and this is the very first commandment.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, impart in me an hatred
for sin and a deeper love of you. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you. Happy New Month. I wish you a Fabulous February.
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