April 3, 2011 Make Your Home Right

Make Your Home Right
Read 2 Samuel 16-18

2 Sam 18:7 There the army of Israel was defeated by David’s men, and the casualties that day were great — twenty thousand men.
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2 Sam 18:33 “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you — O Absalom, my son, my son!”

DAVID MOURNS deeply for his son. It is a lament heard down through the centuries as we consider a father’s loss and a son’s rebellion. A broken family experiences the worst possible consequences.
Then I wonder how David felt about the 20,000 men who had been killed and wounded? The war, the intrigue, the lying, the spying, the nation divided had all been caused by sin in David’s household. I have the impression it began with David’s sin with Bathsheba and against Uriah, the Hittite.
David killed a man for sexual lust. Absalom killed his half-brother who was guilty of sexual lust, and David ignores Absalom. Was, perhaps, David feeling guilty over his past transgressions? Was he feeling unworthy to discipline his sons? Could be.
Absalom rebels. Thousands die. Wives become widows. Children lose their fathers. A nation loses the gifts and strength of 20,000 fighting men who protected Israel from her enemies.
Weekly I see people who are living broken lives because they come from broken homes. What happens in a home never stays there. The brokenness moves through our culture as a deadly cancer, destroying people’s lives and the community.
What’s happening in your home? Is there something you need to make right? Do it now before it spreads.


Pause and Consider: that what we do always affects someone else, perhaps a whole community.