2 Samuel 11-12

(July 9, 2014)

                The story of David and Bathsheba is a tragic one for so many reasons, but it also teaches so many lessons.  For example, I was struck by my reading this time of the phrase “for she was purified from her uncleanness.”  As I understand it (and I do not claim to be an expert in Jewish law), this means that David was willing to commit adultery (and later murder to cover up that adultery), but he drew the line at committing adultery with a woman who was menstruating.

                I have had experience in my life when I have been blinded by sin and my own unrighteous desires.  That strikes me as one of the most illustrative sentences in the scriptures.  When I was consumed by my unrighteousness, I would draw arbitrary lines and defend them vigorously.  I believe that I did this because defending such arbitrary lines was less hurtful than acknowledging my sinful nature.  I would swallow the camel whole, but I would carefully strain out the gnat.

                Since that time, I have learned to look for that mentality in myself.  I am all for trying to be strictly obedient, but when I find myself straining at gnats, I have learned to look for where I am swallowing camels.  And I have found that I am often stuck there with a mouthful of camel that I never even noticed until I went looking for it.