Monday, October 31, 2011

God Always Takes Us Back

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

-- Psalm 51:7

Isn’t it amazing how we allow sin to multiply again and again until finally we admit it and run to God for help? It’s like we sin once, then we sin again in an effort to cover up the first sin. And so it goes.

David sinned when he committed adultery with Bathsheba. Then he compounded that sin by calling her husband home from war and trying to persuade him to go home to his wife. When Uriah refused, David sent a message to Joab -- via Uriah -- instructing the military commander to place Uriah in a position where he would be killed. Then, to make a horrible situation worse, David went along with his life as though nothing bad had happened.

Sin after sin after sin. It wasn’t until God sent the prophet Nathan to David that David confessed and repented. Why did it take David so long? And why does it take us so long? It’s like we can’t repent until we are no longer able to hide our sin. It’s almost comical. It’s not like we can ever hide anything from God.

So where does sin come from? I know. Humans have a sinful nature. But, more specifically, where does sin come from? In David’s case, he was bored. And lonely. And not where he was supposed to be. He’d stayed behind even though the Bible tells us it was the time of year when kings and their men went to war. David put himself in a position where he was vulnerable to sin.

What about you? The Bible warns us against temptation but why do we always think those warnings weren’t meant for us? We just know we can resist but the truth is we aren’t any better at it than anyone else. David was a man after God’s own heart yet he, too, was vulnerable. He fell into Satan’s trap. From there, his life went downhill -- and away from God -- at a rapid pace.

But the beauty of this story is the happy ending. David did repent. He did ask God for forgiveness. And God granted it. Of course, David paid a high price. His son with Bathsheba died. Still, God was with David and Bathsheba again conceived, this time giving birth to Solomon.

How we must hurt God sometimes, when we sin and pull away from His love and His grace. But no matter what we’ve done, or how long we’ve been gone, He always takes us back. His love remains strong and true. He restores us. It doesn’t mean our sin goes without punishment. It means God forgives us and grants us eternal life with Him.

Sometimes we think that we’ve gone too far, done too much, been gone too long, for God to ever forgive us. We haven’t. God forgave David and restored this man who had sinned so greatly. And He’ll restore us too. All we have to do is ask.