47 Days of Justice 2024 - Day 2: It doesn’t look any different when it is you.

“So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guest.” David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife.”

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭12:1-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

As my sons were growing up, there would be times we would observe behaviors in others we found objectionable. Of course, these things would include blatantly sinful behavior. But within that context, it would also include behaviors we think of as being “common” behaviors: name-calling, gossiping, and so on.

Now, when my sons would feel the sting of others’ hurtful behavior, I would remind them that it would not look any different, it would not be any different, if they were to do such things.

So, why do we even have to be instructed that our own bad behavior is not somehow “different” than other people’s bad behavior?

The reason this truth is often lost on us, is because of the fact that when we do something we have deemed objectionable and/or sinful in others, we do so within a context of knowing “why” we have done such things. In other words, we rationalize what we’re doing. Yes, we allow our emotions, motives, personal agenda, etc., to pervert justice.

Additionally, there can be good old denial at work, denial that what we’re doing, is EXACTLY what we clearly saw as being wrong when committed by others.

Now, why are we talking about this phenomenon (to each his own “stench” is sweet) on only the second day of our consideration of justice?

You must understand, in order to be able to rightly stand before the Lord, asking for justice for yourself, you MUST be one who practices justice. Consider the following quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin:

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

Ah, there it is, we cannot define justice/injustice only in terms of what does or doesn’t affect us personally. Righteous justice will NEVER flow to us, if it won’t flow through us.

“Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”

‭‭Amos‬ ‭5:23-24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here, God was telling His people that He did not want to listen to their songs of praise or worship when they were basically living their lives with no concern as to whether they were being just.

In our opening scripture we see the prophet Nathan presenting King David with a story that spoke of injustice. King David could clearly see the injustice in the account. Yes, he could be objective, thinking the story did not concern him.

However, David had done a very terrible thing (a story we will examine over the next several days), yet he was not aware of the severity of the sin or the injustice he had exacted, until he thought someone else had done the deed. The awful and painful truth was that his deed, was much worse than the deed in the fictional account of the man who took someone else’s lamb!

If we are to seek justice for ourselves, for our families, for our country, we must seek justice for all! Remember: one cannot stand asking for justice, unless their first statement is, “Let it begin with me.”

Like I said, it doesn’t look any different when it’s you.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#resolveforhim #47DaysOfJustice