You Shall Restore Fourfold What You Stole In Greed

From today’s reading…

Nathan made his point about the severity of David’s sinful acts with Bathsheba and Uriah with a story about a rich man taking a poor man’s only ewe to slaughter for his own celebratory dinner.

When King David ruled on that man’s sentence, Nathan revealed that he had just passed judgment on himself, which is exactly what God did.

To his credit, David immediately acknowledged his sinfulness and repented but the damage had been done.

Although the Lord forgave him, David and Bathsheba’s child became desperately ill as soon as he was born.

There are a lot of lessons in the 15 verses from today’s Old Testament reading.

First, telling stories and parables is a great way to get your point across.

Two, flanking your opponent is usually better than meeting them straight on. (Not that David was Nathan’s opponent, but this was a tough conversation to have and most of us become defensive when someone walks up to us and tells us we’re wrong.)

Three, actions have consequences, often for many years—even generations—into the future.

Four, the Lord forgives as soon as we repent, but we must still make reparations for the damage we caused.

Five, no one is above God’s law.

So be like David as he passes judgment on the rich man in the parable and as he repented, because that’s the only way to…

Stay the course. Keep the faith. Endure.

Market like you mean it. Now go sell something.