Bored People Do Dumb Things
Before David was appointed King, his character tests included the opportunity to kill Saul, his King and father-in-law, the man who was trying to kill him! He passed the test and chose not to harm him, letting God sort out the details of revenge. Once David was appointed King, the character tests had just begun. Just because we’ve served God for a long time, it doesn’t mean we’re less prone to have a wandering, sinful heart or a carnal nature that needs to be crucified; after all, we haven’t attained the fullness of our new birth, at least if you’re reading this I’m assuming you’re on earth.
For now, we will face temptation and be “prone to wander.” And it’s possible now that if we’re promoted at work or given some amazing blessings that we will face it even more, it’s just a different type of temptation then. Satan, like a good business owner, knows how to re-package the same old thing. The Bible tells us that “In the time when Kings went out to war, David stayed home.”Three verses later we read that he noticed Bathsheba naked on the rooftop. So just think, he’s lounging on his rooftop deck, ignoring his duty as King to lead the charge and lift the moral of his soldiers in battle.
David saw her and asked about her. He was warned, “Don’t do it. She’s married.” David insisted on meeting her, ignoring the voice of the Holy Spirit warning him to stay away. He let his guard down for a moment. He chose selfishness over integrity, lust over restraint. Like many leaders, he made the mistake of believing God could speak to Him directly but wouldn’t speak to him through a friend bringing a warning.
You may know the story, but I’ll summarize it by saying this one act of sin caused a domino affect, inflicting harm on everyone in its path. Ultimately, his sin not only led to the murder of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, but also death in David’s own family. His family became a nightmare following this affair and murder. Never believe the lie from Satan that says Your private sin won’t affect your public life.
Sin always leads you away from God. Sin always leads to death.
Satan wants us to live in shame, the result of sin. So, how do we avoid sin? There are three things that happened beforeDavid committed murder and before the affair.
Three warning signs:
Isolation
Boredom
Pride
When we ignore what God’s calling us to do, when we begin to be lazy; we start to isolate ourselves; we cancel the meeting with our mentor; we begin to believe we don’t need counsel (Who needs counseling!? Not me!” We tend to be more attracted to what Satan offers. A simpler way to point out the obvious here is something I’ve said before … “Bored people do dumb things.” At least that’s what I’ve noticed over the years.
Blaise Pascal, the renowned mathematician and theologian, wrote, “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” - Blaise Pascal