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Listen while you read: "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing"1 (Lyrics) |
2 Samuel 11:2 – Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. (NLT)
Baths may clean you up, but sometimes, they get you into trouble.
Resting outside the bathtub in our spare bathroom is a plastic container with numerous bath toys: a rubber duck, a sailing boat, several balls, a bar of Ivory® soap — the normal toys that kids play with when they bathe. Our grandboys love to play with them when they take a bath. They love the bubbles that MeMe puts in the tub. They submerge the toys under the bubbles, and then hold them in the air and watch as the water squirts out, while laughing and hollering. Occasionally, they splash the water on the floor, which brings a sharp rebuke from MeMe.
King David knew a little about bathing and getting into trouble. He wasn't the one bathing — Bathsheba was — but he was the one who looked when he shouldn't have. The play on words is interesting: Bathsheba bathing. Some suggest that she bathed there on purpose because she knew the king's practice of walking on his roof. Whether or not she intentionally provided the temptation, David fell into the traps of lust, adultery, murder, and lying. One year — and several consequences — passed before he finally confessed.
My world is filled with play toys — not that I bathe with but that I encounter daily: technological gadgets, possessions of all sorts, hobbies (and the things that I need to enjoy them), sporting activities (and the money that I can spend watching them), movies, video games. The list of play toys available to those who live in developed countries is endless.
Some of the play toys are sinful, and others have the potential to be. Bathsheba's bathing wasn't a sin, but if she did it hoping that the king would do what he did, then it became sinful. David's accidental glance wasn't a sin, but when he lusted and acted, it became one. Satan is a master at wrapping innocent things in sinful paper.
Only God can give me the wisdom to play with the right toys and to keep them in the proper perspective. I can't trust my own judgment. It's skewed by my sinful nature and my propensity to gratify my selfish desires.
God may not ask you to throw your toys away; He may simply want you to see them with different eyes or to use them in a more productive way.
Prayer: Father, guide us in the use of our toys so that they won't divert our attention from You and more important things. Amen.
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Thank you, Martin. You are so right!
Interesting and helpful take on Bathsheba’s story, Martin.
Martin:
Very insightful and helpful devotional.
Thank you.
Ah, yes, Martin, may God deliver us from temptation and every evil. Thanks for this devotional reminder. Blessings.
Amen Martin. Thanks for sharing, May we have the strength to overcome every sin when we are tempted, in Jesus name.
Thanks Martin
Another great insightful, challenging piece of writing.
Blessings.
Dear Martin,
After being inundated with a pandemic for a year, what, if I may say, a refreshing lead into your topic of “Toys in The Tub.” Thank you for reminding us to be on guard of our attitude when we take more than a glance. Much appreciation.
Wow Martin! You sure have a way with words. Thanks for such a visual comparison and how Satan loves to ‘wrap innocent things in sinful paper’!
Thanks for the ‘Heads up’ to heighten our awareness of the dangers lurking in such common, everyday areas too!
Hello Martin,
Thanks for writing this devotional. Very good words of advice especially in this day and age when there are so many “techy” devices to get distracted by. The real important focus needs to be on our Saviour.
Blessings,
(B.C.)
Good afternoon Martin
Very good devotional. You make some very good points. On a personal note, I used to have trouble visualizing the Biblical scene on the rooftop, I was used to peaked roofs, until many years ago when I traveled to Iran. I had a room on the 7th floor at the back of the hotel and behind the hotel there were residences with flat roofs. They had playpens, tables, chairs etc. on the flat roof and in the cool of the evening whole families would gather up there to relax. Then the story of David and Bathsheba became so visible. I never did see anyone taking a bath up there though.
Blessings.
Martin, so often you come up with insights that are new and thought-provoking to me.
Thanks for another one.