Living in the Spirit
November 17, 2015

Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 23:1-7

Is not my house like this with God?
   For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
   ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?
But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away;
   for they cannot be picked up with the hand;
to touch them one uses an iron bar or the shaft of a spear.
   And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot. –2 Samuel 23:3-7

2 Samuel 23:1-7 is described as the last words of David before his death. The words above are the last segment of the scripture. David sinned mightily in his love. He not only committed adultery but he had the women’s husband killed so he could claim her as his own. He knew from life experiences how hard it is for any to rid ourselves of our actions, habits of the heart, that are most detrimental to us and thus also detrimental to our relationship with God. The admonition to love our neighbors as we love ourselves is twofold, loving the other reflects the love we have for ourselves.

David sought God’s forgiveness after the prophet Nathan called him to task for what he had done. Perhaps that confrontation is what made him realize how hard it is to rid ourselves of the prickly thorns that infest our beings. Actually we probably cannot rid ourselves. It is God’s unmerited love and forgiveness that purges us of those things in our lives that prevent us from loving as we are called to do—even loving ourselves.

Prayer: Loving and Forgiving Father, protect us from projecting our own pain and shame into our concern and care for others. Forgive us when we judge and condemn others as helpless attempts to save ourselves. Make us whole, make us one. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.