Steadfast in our pursuit

2 Samuel sets the scene for our visit to The City of David this morning. We saw the home of the man after God’s own heart, who saw much triumph over his enemies, but was also occasionally overcome by his own lust. 2 Samuel 11 details the account of David’s sin with Bathsheba. We talked about how the problem truly begins with a strange and uncharacteristic detail in verse 1: “In the spring, when Kings go off to war...David remained in Jerusalem.”

Although seemingly insignificant, this detail depicts an issue. Up to this point, David has been fighting battles and leading his men. This was the reason that the Israelites had demanded a king in the first place (1 Samuel 8:20), to “go out before us and fight our battles.” But after years of victories and blessing David had grown comfortable and relaxed not only with his kingdom, but in his fight against sin. This idea challenged our group to be steadfast in our pursuit of Holiness.

After this we got to travel through Hezekiah’s tunnel, that was strategically implemented by King Hezekiah to provide water to Jerusalem when under siege from the Assyrians (2 Chronicles 32).

In the afternoon we visited the birthplace of our savior. We’ve all grown up hearing stories about Bethlehem, the manger, the shepherds, the magi, but as we visited the small town outside of Jerusalem, we were struck with the stories realness. To be in the town where God became flesh was surreal. This passage came to mind: “...who, although in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself taking on the form of human flesh.”