Journey Thru The Bible! (2 Samuel 13 - 15)

Click on the above Scripture to read today's Bible text!

Here are a few thoughts that come to mind out of today's bible reading...

1) Be careful who your friends are! Chapter 13 tells the sad story that was the by-product of bad advice from a "crafty" friend. It also tells the story of how untamed lust can get out of control! Amnon, unfortunately fell in love with his half-sister Tamar and sought the advice of one his closest friends - his cousin Jonadab. His recommendation to Amnon was to bring her into his bedroom and get alone with her. Sadly, Amnon lust for her (due, in part, to the fact that he couldn't have her) drove him to do two horrible things: 1) rape her, and 2) hate her and drive her out of his bedroom after the rape. This tragic event eventually got Amnom killed by his half-brother Absalom.

My dear friend, Carey Casey, has a great way of advising people about friendship! He puts it this way..."You are who you hang with!" How true it is! Perhaps you remember that old proverb which says, "Birds of a feather flock to together." They do!

So, what am I saying? Simply this....You can tell what kind of person YOU are by the friends you love to keep. Your friends have a powerful effect on the kind of person you are whether you think so or not! It's just human nature! So...what kind of person are you?

2) Even secret sins catch up with us! Yesterday, we read about David's adulterous relationship with Bathsheba and how he did everything to cover it up. The problem was...it didn't work! God knew about it and sent Nathan, the prophet, to confront David about it. In today's text, we read about how God pays David back for the sin he committed.

Remember what God said He would do? He said He would:
- "cause your own household to rebel against you" 12:11
- "give your wives to another man" 12:11
- "he will go to bed with them in public view" 12:11

Although David tried to make his sin a secret, God opened it up to the public! He caused Absalom, his son, to rebel against him and form an army of conspiracy to overthrow his throne, and allowed Absalom to follow the wicked advice of his counselor to have sex with David's concubines on the rooftop (within tents) of the palace so that the entire city could view the what Absalom had done!

Don't try to keep your sin a secret too long, God might bring it out in plain view of everyone down the road! Confess it today!

3) A father's hard-heartedness turns his son towards rebellious acts! David had a right to be angry with Absalom for murdering his half-brother Amnon for raping his sister, however he should have forgiven him and made a pro-active response to restoring the relationship that was lost. But, David didn't do that. As a result, Absalom rebelled against his father - as many children do today when they feel that they are unloved by their parents! The quickest way to get your children to become rebels is to make them feel unloved or unaccepted. Almost all children will do whatever they can to get their parents attention concerning the pain they feel in their heart! It's the parent's responsibility to show maturity and be an example to the children, NOT the other way around! It's sad when children show more maturity than do the parents!

If you have a problem with your child that's created a separation between the two of you, make things right with God and with your child today! Tomorrow may be too late!

Well, that's all for now! God bless!