Be Where You Should Be – Don’t Allow Even a Hint of Impurity

"In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman..."
2 Samuel 11:1-2

I think most of us know how the story ends-- the "man after God's own heart" sleeps with the woman, kills her husband to hide it, and is responsible for the death of the baby. Not to mention the associated sins of lying, deception, pride and abuse of power.

And how did these sins all come about? What was the first step? It was that David didn't go off to war in the spring like all the other kings. He sent someone else to accomplish his job while he relaxed back at the palace on his laurels. Most likely, he felt like he "had earned it."

This lesson applies to all of us. God's word is still applicable to us today, and not just to the person that fits David's profile (male, king, etc). The first population group this lesson brings to my mind is teenagers. They allow themselves to be at the wrong place at the right time for disaster. Alone in cars on deserted side streets... at a friends house with no parents... on a school trip... under the influence of alcohol. Just like David and Bathsheba, this can result in lies and pregnancy.

What about fathers and husbands? They are out and about in the world most of the day. They need our prayers to surround them. They need to be in the Word to strengthen them. They need to ensure that they are where they are supposed to be. Some people scoff at the thought of a 'grown man' watching that he is not alone staying late with women to work... going out after work... but the Bible teaches us that there "must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity" (Ephesians 5:3). This is not to prevent us from having fun or to lock us up, but to protect us. In addition, it reflects well on the person of Christ, who we are to represent to the lost world, that Christians value marriage and family enough to protect them- even if that means changing the way we live. If the wife works outside the home, much of what I said about husbands applies to her; women are especially susceptible to emotional affairs.

The warning of this scripture also applies to moms who are home all day. Even in the home arena we must be careful to be where we are supposed to be. I just met a single father, the dad of one of my daughter's ballet friends. You know how the first time a friend comes over, the parent stays for a minute to 'scope out the place?' I arranged to have a 'chaperone' for the time window that he was going to drop off his daughter. Everyone in my neighborhood knows I stay home all day; I don't want there to be even a suggestion that I was home alone with a man other than my husband. But, we also need to make sure we aren't on the computer when we should be playing with our kids; that we aren't texting on our phones when we should be watching the soccer game, that we aren't doing the dishes when we should be talking to our daughters.

If we want to chase after God's heart, if we want to represent Christ to the world, then we need to train ourselves to become vigilant. We need to take into consideration what our actions look like to the world. Last of all, we must be willing to change our habits and behaviors so that we can keep our lives free from unnecessary temptation and even the appearance of impurity.

By: Teresa Dear

About the Author: