Date: Wednesday, 17th July, 2024
Text: 2 Samuel 11:1-17
Author: Pastor Adedeji Fadehan
Exhortation:
Idleness gives Satan a foothold. If you are not engaged with something godly and profitable, the devil will engage you. The Turks have a proverb which says that the devil tempts all other men, but that idle men tempt the devil.
The popular proverb, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” implies that evil thoughts find their way into our minds easily when we are indolent and idle. When a man is idle, all sorts of evil ideas creep into his mind and it becomes the perfect place for the devil to carry out his evil works.
According to today’s text, there was a time when David the king became idle. He stayed back home in his palace when other kings went to war. It was then Satan gave him something to do.
One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. He found out that the woman was the wife of one of his choice soldiers who was at the battle front fighting for the nation.
Before he knew what was happening King David found himself in the sin of adultery; the lady became pregnant and in order to cover up his evil tracks, he tried to push the pregnancy on the husband; when the husband did not fall for that trap, he officially arranged his murder and snatched his beautiful wife- 2 Samuel 11:1-17.
Idleness made a king to betray his own gallant soldier into the cold hands of death. Uriah, the poor soldier could never have thought, in his wildest imagination, that the same king David who sent him to battle would mastermind his murder on the battle field. That is one of the consequences of indolence.
David later asked for forgiveness and God forgave him but that did not save him from the consequences of his evil actions. God severely punished the king by bringing calamity on him and by laying a curse on him and his household- 2 Samuel 12:1-12.
His children turned against one another committing incest and killing themselves. He was temporarily dethroned by his own son, Absalom who raped his father’s wives in broad day light. The curse eventually consumed four of his sons, namely Amnon, his first born, Absalom, Adonijah and the baby born from the adulterous act-2 Samuel 12ff. He reaped what he sowed.
Action Nugget: Take active steps to free yourself from the trap of idleness and indolence.