It was the time of year that kings went to war but King David stayed home in the palace. I wonder if he thought that was the safest place to be. I wonder if there was no more thrill of a battle victory in him. I wonder if he thought he wasn't needed anymore on the battlefield. This little bit of time at home corrupted his legacy. Of course, one night he saw Bathsheba taking a bath on her roof. The rest is, as they say, history.
The failure to be obedient brings a restlessness within us. We will never be truly fulfilled by disobeying our purpose of giving God glory. We give Him glory by bearing fruit. We bear fruit with our obedience. We are obedient by responding to His call. He calls us to His work. We work and are fulfilled.
There are so many Christians who are getting divorces, having affairs, breaking laws and a host of other things which Christians should never do. They didn't get up one day and decide to do these things. They just didn't have a passion for the Lord any more. They may have been deeply involved in the ministry but they were not deeply involved in the Lord's work. They were doing what they could under their own power, with their own personalities, with their own personal charisma and they had gotten weary in this work because it was draining their strength. They lost the passion to see another soul come to know they Lord. They lost the sense of their own calling that made them special before the Lord. They lost the desire to serve and they put themselves in a place they should never have been.
I have seen ministers fall into this trap. They find themselves in an affair that they never intended. They were disobedient to what they knew they must do. They should never have had that counseling session alone. They should never have met the lady after hours. They should never have gone out without their wives to meet with another woman. They knew better but they allowed themselves to be caught into the stream of intrigue which turned into a raging river that captured them all the way to the waterfall. Now, they are no longer in the ministry. They lost their ministry because they lost the trust of their congregations. The legacy of their ministry is gone or, at least, forever tainted.
I wonder how many marriages would still be together if husband and wife had listened to their calling to God's work. I wonder how many would be raising healthy, well adjusted kids if they had continued in their passion for the Lord. I wonder how many Christians understand that God's calling us to His work is not because He couldn't do things without us. He calls us so that we will walk with Him in the work. We simply do what we should be doing under His authority, with His strength and with a passion to see Him glorified.
The greatest danger of disobedience is where it takes us. It brings us to ourselves and our own passions. It leads us down a road that promises fulfillment but never produces fulfillment. It causes us to walk further away from the Lord in cover-ups for our failures to be obedient. It taints our legacy. It promises to be our greatest thrill and becomes our greatest disappointment.
You are in danger if you know what God wants you to do and you are not doing it. You may have said that you are just going to take a break but God didn't direct you to do so. You are susceptible to things you would never have dreamed you would ever do. You have lost your passion for God's work and you need to return to the joy of His salvation. You need to cry out to the Lord in repentance and run back to His service before you find yourself doing what you consider anathema.
You are just as disobedient if you are working for the Lord under your own strength. You have left Him far behind you. You will never give Him glory by doing things for Him. You give Him glory by walking with Him. Cry out if He is far away from you. You need to joy of His salvation.
You and the Lord are the only ones who know your heart. Are you truly giving Him glory?
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