Posted on 06/26/2009 9:10:47 PM PDT by tenger
One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 2 Samuel 11:2-3
This is perhaps one of the most well-known stories in the Old Testament. David sinned. It wasn't Bathsheba's fault because refusing the King could have meant death for her. No, David sinned. He should have been at war but he wasn't. He couldn't sleep so he got up and roamed his palace. He was bored. We could even use the adage, "idle hands are the devil's tools."
When you're bored and have time on your hands, you can get into trouble. It happens to celebrities all the time. They have unstructured time between movies, so they do whatever they want and often it lands them in jail or worse.
So, this paragraph is geared for the guys in my audience. Be extremely careful of your unstructured time, especially if you're on the internet a lot. You don't have to be a genius to realize that photos and videos of nude women are all over the internet. Guard your hearts and your minds, gentlemen. Don't go there. Don't even think of going there. Run from it. Flee fast. Don't put yourself in that situation.
And ladies, don't think you're not immune to the temptations that idleness brings you. Perhaps you're lonely or your husband isn't giving you enough attention. You too can get bored. So you naturally gravitate towards online friendships, because they're "safe.". Be very careful of the kinds of relationships you build online. If you think your husband might be jealous if he found out how much time you are "chatting" with a guy online, then it's probably not a good idea to pursue that relationship further.
So, men and women are tempted by our idleness in very different ways. We need to honestly examine these temptations and act accordingly.God will provide a way out but we have to acknowledge that before the fact.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
It wasn’t Bathsheba’s fault -
Should of used that line in college, speaking of which, Farah I still can see your poster on my dorm wall, rest in peace.
Prayers offered up for our country.
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