There was a knock on the door and I got slowly got up out of my easy chair, certainly not expecting anyone this time of night. As I opened the door I was greeted with the biggest smile and largest box I have ever seen. The man standing in front of me was dressed more like a doorman at an expensive hotel than a deliveryman. The gold buttons on his uniform glistened even in the porch light and he had the most beautifully wrapped box you can imagine … I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
My focus was interrupted when, with that big smile, he said please sign here. But who is it from I asked – I didn’t order anything? He just continued to smile and said, Oh, don’t worry, it’s all taken care of … all you have to do is just sign here and it’s yours.
Well, it sure was a pretty box and I definitely didn’t like the idea of it getting away … never look a gift horse in the mouth! But as I was getting ready to sign for it, in the back of my mind there was this little annoying voice that kept saying; nothing in this world comes without strings attached; there’s always a price to be paid somewhere down the road. And my hand froze as the pen hit the signature line as I thought of someone else.
Matt 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Heb 4:15 For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Jesus taught us that sin is not the “thought” but what springs from the “thought.” The thought itself (temptation) isn’t sin; it’s what we do with them. Like the unexpected deliveryman knocking at the door. He just delivers it, we receive it and will ultimately pay for it. The Holy Spirit is right – nothing in this world comes without a price. Just because he shows up at our door with something attractive is no reason for us to accept it. If we do, we just might wind up like a certain fellow did a long time ago.
2Sam 11:2-4: And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 3. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 4. And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
This is a story that is very familiar to all of us but let’s focus on what I think is a real critical message for us here in the 21st century. So let’s start at the beginning.
The first red flag is that David got up from His bed when it was time to go to bed. Here was the great warrior king that had just sent his men off to battle and we find him lying around the palace; sleeping during the day. It would seem that he had set himself up as an easy target for the enemy. Now in the second part of verse 2 we see the deliveryman come to his door: he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. From our previous discussion you can see that he should have said he didn’t order it, I’m not receiving it and then promptly closed the door before the deliveryman got his foot in the doorway. But what did he do? He took the thought and began to make it his own: David sent and inquired after the woman. He hadn’t sinned at this point but he was definitely and willfully headed in the wrong direction. You could say the pen was in his hand and it was poised at the signature line.
When we begin to hold the “thought” in our mind and contemplate it, whatever it may be, we are thinking about accepting the package and sin is just a step outside the door. In this case David asked the deliveryman if he could see the package before he signed for it. He was in dangerous territory but even having gone that far the Lord still tried to warn David. Here was the voice of, we presume, one of his servants who simply asks a very key and “warning” question: isn’t that Uriah’s wife?
Here we have the Holy Spirit saying to David, don’t look into that package, it’s not for you – it’s going to cost you dearly in the end. Have you heard that voice as the deliveryman stands there in front of you? Perhaps it’s leaving the TV on the wrong channel too long rather than recognizing you need to move right on past it; or leave it off completely. Perhaps it’s not letting our anger and hurt over something become a root of bitterness. Sorry, now I’ve gone to meddling.
But now look at the result of contemplating that thought. David succumbed to the thought and signed for the package by bringing Bathsheba to his palace with but one thought on his mind. We have a real lesson here in the way the enemy works and it all stems from us being where we shouldn’t be.
David was definitely in a place he shouldn’t have been. If he had been in battle leading his men, seeing Bathsheba taking the bath wouldn’t have even been an issue. But, the problem was that he didn’t stop when the warning bell was sounded and he moved right on past it into sin.
That is so often how the devil works in us. It’s always progressive and starts with just a little thought out of nowhere. When he has planted it he will continue water and cultivate it unless you dig it up and get rid of it. Sometimes it takes a long time for the thought to become action, but if we keep it sooner or later it will. We need to be vigilant because the Word tells us that Satan is like a roaring lion roaming about to see who he can devour. Sometimes he tries to take a big bite but most often he just nips, nips and nips until all of a sudden we realize a big chunk is missing. Don’t ever forget that he is a very patient lion who will lie in wait a long time before he makes his move; which is always a very calculated move.
Contrast this example with that of Jesus in the Wilderness. The way to safety is completely clear. Jesus didn’t compromise at all. He answered the door, recognized the deliveryman, gave him the Word and closed the door. If David had done that just think about all the people that would not have been hurt. It rained death and destruction on his family from that moment on until his last breath. Oh, God forgave him but the price of the result of his sin was high; deception, incest and murder for starters.
I have to admit that I have signed for the package like David more than once in my life and I wish I had closed the door like Jesus. The price is always costly because it drives a wedge in our relationship with God. Accept too many deliveries and you will find yourself looking out the window to see when he is coming up the walk.
Jesus showed us the way and we need to realize that he did so as a man; a human being just like you and me. He did not sin for two very significant reasons: (1) He was totally submitted to the Father and (2) He spoke nothing but what He heard the Father say. How much easier life would be for us if we just did those two things? He was tempted in EVERY way and yet he never took delivery of an evil thought Himself. But in the end He signed for ours and fully paid the tab up front – in advance!
This is a wonderful picture of atonement; He charged His account for our goods. Think of all the temptations we face everyday. He experienced them as well and never allowed one of them to turn into sin. He knew that we could never do that on our own and so He gave His Blood for us and His Spirit to us. I like the way Oswald Chambers puts it:
Temptation means the test by an alien power of the possessions held by a personality. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus in His baptism had accepted the vocation of bearing away the sin of the world, He was immediately put by God’s Spirit into the testing machine of the devil, but He did not tire, He went through the temptation “without sin”, and He retained the possessions of His personality in tact.
I laughed at a friend of mine who told me that every time the deliveryman comes knocking at the door with one of “those thoughts” he just slowly says the name of Jesus seven times. I thought that was a funny picture until I tried it the first time. By the second or third utterance of His name my mind was turning upward to Him and the temptation began to fade and the door was closed without accepting the package.
So what’s the answer? Let the Holy Spirit be like David’s faithful servant as He is there speaking the word of warning all the time. But are we listening or are we too enamored with the package?
Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?