47 Days of Justice 2024 - Day 3: Never back off from doing what is right.

“In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.”

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭11:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What does it mean to “back off’ of something? Well, when we back off something, it means that we are relaxing our efforts and losing intensity in the direction of that effort. Think of one car pursuing another. Backing off can mean just taking your foot off the gas, all the way up to slamming on the brakes.

Yesterday we talked about King David’s confrontation with the prophet Nathan. He had become blind to his own acts of injustice and could only see his sin through the lens of what “someone else” had done. As promised yesterday, we begin a little journey into how justice becomes perverted by a close examination of the story of King David and Bathsheba.

For many well-meaning people, the slide toward injustice begins with the first venturing out onto a “slippery slope” (a concept we have recently employed here). Often, that slippery slope comes masquerading as just “relaxing a bit,” “not being quite so intense about things.” “Chilling.”

Of course, we know that stress can damage us in many ways. However, what we are referencing here is not keeping a high stress level, rather, it’s about maintaining our steadfastness in righteousness.

Think about it, just a “slight” laxness in your thought life, can be the “crack in the door,” giving access to what will—at a later time—become full-blown disregard for what is right, disregard for what is just.

“A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭24:33-34‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Just as laziness can lead to poverty, just so, spiritual laxness or laziness leads to poverty of spirit. And, poverty of spirit, can lead you to disregarding God’s ways. We do well to heed this warning:

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NLT

Instead of King David going out to conquer the enemy, he stayed at home to “rest.” So, what was wrong with his resting? That the fact of his staying home, rather than going to war, is mentioned along with the remark, “In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war,” signals a cause-and-effect relationship between his staying home (when he should have been at war), and what would later occur.

Beware of slippery slopes in your life. You might think you have on the right “shoes” to handle it, but beware, there are many at the bottom of that slope who thought the same thing. Don’t join the stranded victims at the bottom of a slippery slope by backing off from your pursuit of what is righteous!

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#resolveforhim #47DaysOfJustice