We live in an age where a person can go from being famous to being infamous as a result of one tweet. All it takes is one mistake, or the discovery of one objectionable act to change the attitude of the whole watching world.

Our God is a God of compassion, offering forgiveness to all of us for whatever mistakes we make. His loving offer stands regardless of the intensity of our crime. He can forgive, and he wants to forgive. He is a loving Father, watching at the door for his prodigal sons to come home.

Yet, he is also a God who takes sin seriously, so that there are some sins that even though they can be forgiven, they produce consequences that might stay with us for the rest of our lives. 

David’s murder of Uriah was such a sin. God’s prophet Nathan exposed David by identifying him as the offender. David thought for sure that God would require his life in exchange for that of Uriah. But Nathan told him that God had forgiven him. Nonetheless, there would be several consequences. A sword would never depart from David’s house. Disaster and sexual sin would come from inside his own household. The son Bathsheba bore to him would die despite David’s prayer and fasting to preserve his life.

As believers in Christ, we enjoy tremendous blessings because of our relationship with God through faith in Christ. But immunity to the consequences of our choices is not one of these blessings. Living wisely means understanding the boundaries God has given us to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Wise people avoid sin.

Living maturely means accepting the consequences of our failures and trusting God to work around those rough spots and keep bringing glory to himself with our lives. Despite his failures and paying the price for them, David lived the rest of his life, worshiped his God, and led his people because it was about God’s glory, not his.

Jefferson Vann

Extended Scripture: 2 Samuel 8–12 (NET)