2 Samuel 13

(July 10, 2014)

                The story of Amnon, sadly, is the story of each of us.  Amnon, the son of a king, had a desire that he wanted to be satisfied.  But rather than petition his father for the desires of his heart, he took it upon himself to claim what he wanted regardless of the consequences or the hurt he caused.  Once he had claimed his prize, he found that it had no capacity to provide real and lasting happiness and it turned to ash in his mouth.  Finally, his own wickedness resulted in his ultimate destruction.

                Can we not see the analogy in our own lives?  Each of us has desires of our hearts.  Like David, our Father “will not withhold me from” us these desires, so long as they are kept within His righteous limits.  If we are patient and petition our Father, we can find happiness through the realization of these desires.  If, on the other hand, we seek to use our own will and resources to achieve these desires in opposition (or even circumvention) of the Father, we will find even the satisfaction of these desires will provide no joy and we will achieve only our own destruction.