In the Spring #It'sATrap

We cannot rest on our laurels (we can’t sit on our butts), when things seemed to be going well. We cannot afford to become apathetic or complacent as Christians. We must take our spiritual arms and our spiritual armor daily, because we are in a full-out spiritual war complete with schemes from an enemy that is invisible to us. —- Many look at the great mistake (better yet Great Sin) of King David with Bathsheba, and they blame it on wandering eyes. However, his fall into this horrific chain of events started more subtly. We read: In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. —2Sam.11:1 Spring-time is a wonderful time of year. It is full of hope, and refreshing after a hard winter. It was also the time in Israel to get busy. The text is clear that David was not where he was supposed to be. The kingdom was doing well, so he stayed back. He sat this one out. One could argue that this was okay, except the end results prove it was wrong. David had become “fat and happy.” He lost his edge. He was settling into status quo. By doing so, he set himself up for an enemy attack, except this was far worse. This was a spiritual attack by an invisible enemy taking place in the friendly confines of his own home. —- May we learn lessons as a church from our Scripture reading instead of the School of Hard Knocks. When things seem to be going well, we need to step it up! We need to pray harder. We need to love one another by helping and supporting one another. We need to halt any semblance of gossip. We need to forgive one another liberally. We need to love the unlovely. We need to generally cut people a lot of slack. We need to share Jesus with others, remembering that the only thing God can’t use is our silence. —- So today, if you find yourself settling into your spiritual lazy-boy, and committing more time, talent and treasure to “me” stuff, wake up! Don’t get sucked in. It’s a trap! Don’t be satisfied with where you are. Instead, ask God what big or little thing you can do today for His Kingdom agenda. If your eyes are “seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” then you will not have wandering eyes.