April 23, 2024
Levi Skipper, pastor
Clermont Baptist Church, Concord
How do you learn lessons? Typically we learn by listening to what we should do, watching someone do it, and then actually doing it ourselves. We learn by good examples. But don’t miss the lessons you can learn from bad examples too.
That is one of the reasons I love the Bible. In the Scriptures, you don’t just read about those who have it all together. You get to see bad examples. David is one of those historical figures that we look at and learn great qualities. We learn how to trust God in difficult circumstances. We learn how to courageously fight battles in His strength. We learn how to pray with an earnest heart. We learn how to forge friendships and how to respect authority.
However, David not only teaches us lessons about life by being a good example. He also teaches us how not to live by providing us with bad examples. Ask almost anyone who has a little church background and they can tell you two things about David. David killed Goliath and David slept with Bathsheba.
Our key text focuses on the latter. David chose to give in to his fleshly desires and have Bathsheba. He didn’t see Bathsheba as someone who was created by God and worthy of respect. He viewed Bathsheba through his eyes instead of God’s eyes.
Instead of seeing someone of value and worth, he viewed her as someone with whom He could have his way. Led by sinful lusts and desires, he took advantage of her and committed adultery. After she had become pregnant, David had to cover his tracks. He tried to have her husband come home so that he would sleep with his wife. The pregnancy then could be viewed as Uriah’s doing. However, Uriah wouldn’t sleep with her in loyalty to his men on the battlefield.
David took another step. He made sure that in the next battle, Uriah was on the front lines. And just to make sure that he would be killed, he ordered that the men withdraw from helping him. David placed no value upon the lives of Uriah and Bathsheba.
When we undervalue people, we don’t treat them the way Jesus would. Each person you come into contact with is a creation of God’s. When you view others with the eyes of Jesus, your treatment of them will change.
I allowed a neighbor to borrow a riding lawnmower. He was in a bind and to be honest, his yard looked horrible. I reluctantly agreed and off he went. After finishing his yard, he parked the mower in my driveway. Everything looked fine until the next time I went out to mow my grass. One of the blades was cutting directly into the lawn.
I remember the anger that swelled up in my heart over that situation. I thought, “How can you take something that is mine and not care about it?” Imagine how the heart of God breaks when we mistreat the people that He created – the very people that He sent His Son to save.
Jesus’ life was given up to purchase people from the slave market of sin. He put great value upon people. When we see others as Christ sees them, we will treat them accordingly.
