Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
2 Samuel 12:7-12 (ESV)
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’”
Did you notice how many times God says the word “I.” He says, “I anointed… I delivered… I gave you.” God has been working in David’s life giving him everything. David abused God’s love. We never deserve God’s love. We never deserve God’s blessing. It is a free gift. Right now we are living in a blessed country. We take for granted the blessings God gives like clean water, nice housing, cars, abundant food, the connectivity of the internet, freedom to worship anyone and anything. We forget this and reject God’s work in our lives daily. We abuse our privilege and power. We fail to recognize all this for what it really is: a free gift! What if God has a greater purpose for our lives? How might we recognize God’s blessings and use them to bless others?