The Price of Sin

(Today's reading - 2 Samuel 12-14)

Yesterday's reading left us with the death of King David's son. He has been told that his family will be a source of hurt and conflict for the remainder of his life. Sin always comes with a price to be paid and David's payment will be huge.
In verse 23, we find Bathsheba in mourning after the death of her son. Within a nine month period she has buried her husband and her son. She has married the king after he get her pregnant and kills her husband. She must be a mess. David comes to her to comfort her and soon she finds herself with child again. She gives birth to another son and names him Solomon. After all the sorrow, finally some joy. But the joy is only temporary as David's dysfunctional family continues to be a source of conflict and tragedy.
David's son, Amnon falls in love with his half sister, Tamar and is consumed by his desire for her. She doesn't give him the time of day. He devises a plan to get her alone and rapes her. Again, tragedy in the king's home. "When King David heard all this, he was furious. And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar." (2 Samuel 13:21,22) David's son, Absalom, Tamar's brother bides his time and two years later takes revenge on Amnon and has him murdered. Again, tragedy in the king's house. David loses another son. Absalom flees the country and David loses another son. "Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own." (2 Samuel 12:10) David's bad decision haunts his life.
Many of us live with the consequences of our bad choices (sin). David's story brings our poor decisions and their ramifications into clear view. Drink and drive....wreck, innocent people killed. Steal on our jobs.....fired, charged and future employment jeopardized. Commit adultery.......divorce, families destroyed, children scarred for life. Overcome with anger.....hurt another person, arrested for battery, time in prison. Or maybe it is smaller....lie to my wife.....lost trust, intimacy shattered, marriage on the rocks.  You fill in the blank. We all have sinned (Romans 3:23). We all know that our sin hurts us and those around us. We all know that our sin comes with a price. For David, it was a life filled with pain and sorrow as he and his family suffered.
As Christians, we know that our Savior, Jesus paid the price for our sin. We expect that when we die, we will appear at the judgement seat and will be found innocent because Jesus paid the debt of our sin. We will avoid the eternal consequence of our sin, separation from God; but we do not avoid the pain of our poor decisions during our lives here. David tells us that loud and clear. He looks you and me right in the eyes and tells us that we reap what we sow. When David looked at Bathsheba, he saw Uriah. When he saw Amnon, he saw Uriah. When he saw Tamar, he saw Uriah. When he saw Absalom, he saw Uriah. He lived with the outcome of his sin and we will also.
May we grow in our understanding of the high price of sin. May we turn from our fleshly desires that rule in our lives and determine to live rightly, allowing God to direct our steps. My prayer for us is that we will learn from King David's mistakes and turn away from those things that will damage our lives, both here and hereafter.