Daily Devotions – Our Need for God’s Word

Daily Devotions – Our Need for God’s Word

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:

2 Samuel 12:1-7 (NIV)

12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” 5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” 7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

 

God’s word not only reveals His love for us, but also our brokenness. Hearing that Jesus died for us means that we are broken and we need saving! David is confronted by God’s word through the prophet Nathan saying, “You are the man.” God’s word points out the ugly, broken nature of our hearts that we try to keep hidden and do not want to be confronted with. Yet, God’s word will not let us escape. You are the man! You are guilty. You need a savior. No wonder it is a miracle that anyone has faith. But the Good News of the cross is that Jesus takes our brokenness upon himself and gives us a new life lived in the complete, beautiful, and gracious love of the Father. Our sin no longer belongs to us. It is given to Jesus and it dies with Him on the cross. Instead, we are made children of God and inheritors of His Kingdom by pure, undeserved grace. Praise the Lord.