Ever screw up… really bad?

Ever screw up … really bad? I mean, broke one of the big, ten commandments? Go to jail type stuff? But, you didn’t get caught. No one saw. You thought. But just to make sure, you did what you thought was some really creative thinking and worked a cover up? But wait, somebody knows. In fact it’s going to become public. Does this mean embarrassment? Loss of career? Loss of relationships? Condemnation? Punishment?

I had a Christian friend in the insurance business that spent a client premium on his own bills. Needless to say he’s no longer in the insurance business. But can God forgive? Will he restore us? Will there be lifelong consequences? Will we permanently lose our standing with God?

That depends. It depends on us. Do we fess up? Do we turn around (repent) and seek God? Do we face the music, or submit to the law and restitution?

Let’s remember King David and his experience. And let’s look at his change of heart.

The SIN

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” 2 Samuel 11:2-4

The COVERUP

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die. Vs. 14

Getting CAUGHT

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Vs 12:7-9

The LIFETIME CONSEQUENCES

Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’ “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.* You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’” Vs 10-12

“But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.” Vs. 14

The CHANGE OF HEART

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned* against the LORD.” Vs. 13

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:1,2,7,9,10,11

FORGIVENESS

Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. Vs.13.b

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

OK, what about us? What about you? Are you carrying a sin, something you don’t think God can forgive? What lifetime consequences are you living with?

Has God changed? Will He not forgive and restore? Are you willing to pay your debt and make restitution?

Have you had a change or heart? Have you turned back to God? Are you ready to cry out to Him for forgiveness?

My friend never could return to the financial services industry. And, he struggled with money his whole life. But, he did repent of his sin, and confessed publicly before his whole congregation at church one Sunday. And, he's in heaven with Jesus today!