TOKONAKI ME 31, 2025

STAND ON THE GOSPEL

TU‘U ‘I HE KOOSIPELI

EPHESIANS 6:14-15

"Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace." 

‘EFESO 6:14-15

14 Ko ia, ke mou tu‘u, kuo nono‘o ‘aki homou kongaloto ‘a e fai mo‘oni, pea kuo ‘ai ‘a e kofu tau ko e mā‘oni‘oni, 15 pea kuo mou topuva‘e ‘aki ‘a e ‘osi teuteu mei he Kōsipeli fakamelino;

When we picture soldiers on the frontlines of battle, we often imagine firearms, artillery, and other tactical equipment. But there's a piece of gear we often overlook, without which a soldier would be utterly ineffective: his boots. Without appropriate footwear, no soldier, and therefore no army, can hope to defend a position.

The apostle Paul calls believers to stand firm in our gospel shoes, so to speak - to be at the ready with appropriate footwear. When in his first letter to the Corinthian church he writes his great chapter on the resurrection, he begins, "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand" (1 Corinthians 15:1, emphasis added). The gospel provides us with firm footing. Even when everything else around us is shaking, we always have a place to stand. Even when temptation is fierce, we never need to retreat.

What was it that empowered Martin Luther to stand against the tide, nail his theses to the church door at Wittenberg, and then proclaim before an emperor, "Here I stand; I can do no other"? Gospel shoes. What was it that enabled the English Protestants Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley to face with courage the horror of being burnt at the stake for their faith? Gospel shoes. What is it that sees our brothers and sisters in so many places around the world joyfully proclaim their faith in Christ even as they are threatened with death? Gospel shoes.

When you go to your workplace, to your school, to your unbelieving family and friends, or into your local community, what will give you the power to stand for Jesus? Only the gospel shoes that Christ provides. If you try to stand on your own strength, you will inevitably stumble and fall. But when you enter each new day with your feet rooted in the hope, peace, forgiveness, and assurance of the gospel, then you will find yourself able to stand firm, even through the fiercest opposition from the world and temptation from the devil. So before you go and get on with your day, rehearse the gospel to yourself. Enjoy its truths. Praise your Savior. Or, to put it a different way: put your shoes on.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-8

Bible Through The Year: 2 Kings 24-25; Matthew 17

 FALAITE ME 30, 2025

SOLID GROUND TO STAND ON

MAKATU‘UNGA PAU KE TU‘U AI

EPHESIANS 6:13-14

"Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth." 

‘EFESO 6:13-14

13 Ko ia, mou to‘o ‘a e mahafu kotoa ‘a e ‘Otua, koe‘uhi ke mou lava ke talitu‘u ‘i he ‘aho ‘o e fai mai ‘a e kovi; pea kuo lava kotoa pē kae tu‘u pē. 14 Ko ia, ke mou tu‘u, kuo nono‘o ‘aki homou kongaloto ‘a e fai mo‘oni, pea kuo ‘ai ‘a e kofu tau ko e mā‘oni‘oni,

Western culture is confused about many things - but it's certainly confused about truth. We often trade in vague platitudes that sound great at first but which crumble under closer examination. "Just be a good person," we hear. "It doesn't really matter what you believe, just as long as you lead a good life and do your best." That all sounds quite pleasant, and we ought to thank God for the common grace that prevents our world from tearing itself apart. But it's not enough - because the obvious question is this: Who gets to define good? What does it really mean to live a good life or to be a good person? When we have competing visions for what exactly good means and can't agree on the fundamentals, we find ourselves in all sorts of trouble – not unlike the present state of affairs in much of the West.

We all feel the pressure to cave in to our society's relativization of truth, in which "you decide your truth and I'll decide mine." The Bible, however, calls us to find a firm foothold on God's truth - a truth that is objective and is not up for debate. Paul instructs us, "Stand having fastened on the belt of truth" (Ephesians 6:14). When we embrace our culture's confusion about truth, we are left to be "tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (4:14). We simply have no solid ground to stand on. But when we plant ourselves in God's truth, we can firmly hold our ground and be ready to face whatever comes our way (Luke 12:35; 1 Peter 1:13).

Standing for truth won't prove easy. People might consider us hopelessly old-fashioned, dogmatic, or worse. But in reality, to stand on and advocate for truth is one of the most loving things we can do for it is to call people to live in line with reality, and to call them away from building on falsehoods that, sooner or later, will crumble beneath them. As Paul writes elsewhere, love "does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:6). What might it take for you to rejoice with the truth today in your own thinking and in your conversations with others? However high the cost may seem, you can stand and speak with confidence, knowing that Christ has sent His Spirit to "guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13).

JOHN 8:31-36

Bible Through The Year: 2 Kings 22-23; Matthew 16

 TU‘APULELULU ME 29, 2025

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR

TOKANGA KI HE ME‘A ‘OKU KE KOLE

1 SAMUEL 8:7-9

"The LORD said to Samuel, 'Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them."

1 SAMIUELA 8:7-9

7 Pea folofola ‘a Sihova kia Sāmiuela, Fakaongo ki he lea ‘a e kakai ‘i he me‘a kotoa kuo nau lea‘aki kiate koe: he ‘oku ‘ikai ko koe kuo nau li‘aki, ka kuo nau li‘aki au mei he nofo ko honau tu‘i. 8 Ko e anga ai pē ia ‘o e me‘a kotoa kuo nau fai, mei he ‘aho na‘a ku ‘ohake kinautolu mei ‘Isipite, ‘o a‘u ki he ‘aho ko eni, ‘a ‘enau li‘aki au, mo tauhi ‘otua kehe, kuo pehē foki ‘enau fai kiate koe. 9 Pea ko eni ke ke fakaongo ki he‘enau lea; ngata pē te ke mātu‘aki na‘ina‘i kiate kinautolu, ‘o hīnoi‘i kinautolu ‘a e konisitūtone ‘o e tu‘i te ne pule kiate kinautolu.

Have you ever wanted something, worked for it and secured it, and then realized that you were worse off than before? Sooner or later, most of us discover that all that glitters is not gold-and so we should be careful what we aim for, work for, and wish for.

The people of Israel were, by the eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, very sure of what they needed. And so they asked for and insisted on "a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Samuel 8:5). But in doing so, the people of Israel had essentially rejected God as King. They no longer wanted to be known as a holy people and a distinctive nation. Instead. they wanted to be free of God's perfect rule and absorbed into the surrounding culture. 

To this entreaty God gave a solemn warning: Be careful what you ask for! He would give the people what they wanted - but His willingness to grant them a king would turn out to be an act of judgment for their foolish, faithless request. A king would take their children as soldiers and servants (1 Samuel 8:11-14). He would take their best possessions (v 15). Worse of all, He said, "You shall be his slaves" (v 17).

In the book of Romans, Paul recounts the folly of humanity that courses from the Garden of Eden through the whole history of the world: though we recognize there is a God, we don't honor Him and instead exchange His glory for idols we deem to be better (Romans 1:21-23). "And since [we] did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave [us] up" to live according to our passions and desires-and to suffer the natural outcome of our choices (v 28-31). God's present judgment is seen not in withholding from humanity what we want but in letting us have it. Sin is its own punishment.

How easy it is to declare, whether with our lips or by our decisions and our deeds, that we no longer want to live under God's kingship - that we want to be free to be our own person and make our own decisions about who we are, what we have, and what we believe. But God's kindness is seen in not giving us what we think we need. Having shown them in King Saul the insecurity and disappointment that the king they wanted would bring, God brought Israel the kind of king they had not asked for but truly needed-David. And He offers us today the Savior and Lord who we would never have asked for but who we desperately need. So, as you consider what you want in life, remember this: God has already given you what you most need in giving us His Son. And His kindness is seen not just in what He gives but what He withholds, for He knows better than you do what you truly need in your life.

ROMANS 1:18-32

Bible Through The Year: 2 Kings 19-21; Matthew 15:21-39

 PULELULU ME 28, 2025

MAKE THE BOOK LIVE TO ME

NGAOHI HO‘O TOHI KE MO‘UI KIATE AU

LUKE 24:44-45

"Then he said to them, 'These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." 

LUKE 24:44-45

44 Pea ne pehē kiate kinautolu, Ko ‘eku ngaahi lea ē na‘a ku fai kiate kimoutolu ‘i he‘eku kei nofo mo kimoutolu, ‘o pehē, Kuo pau ke hoko ‘a e ngaahi me‘a kotoa pē kuo tohi kiate au ‘i he Lao ‘a Mōsese, mo e Tohi Palōfita, mo e Tohi Saame. 45 Pea ne toki tatala honau loto ke nau ‘ilo hono ‘uhinga ‘o e Tohitapu;

Over the years, several films have sought to portray the sheer brutality surrounding Jesus' crucifixion - the unrelenting, unmitigated torture that transformed Christ into little more than a barely conscious mass of blood and flesh by the time He reached Golgotha. After viewing such a horrific scene, we may respond with tears and feelings of pity and remorse, or with confusion, wondering, Why did this have to take place? What actually happened here?

But however moved we may be, witnessing Jesus' crucifixion - whether in person, as the disciples did, or through an artist's rendering - is not enough in and of itself to bring an individual to saving faith. Rather, we meet Jesus savingly and definitively primarily through God's word. The apostle Paul exhorted fellow believers along these lines: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14-15). The great need of every age is the proclamation of God's word.

This was the purpose of Jesus' interaction with the disciples in Jerusalem on the first Easter Sunday. They were confused and despairing following Jesus' crucifixion. Then, as they cowered in a locked room, their Savior appeared, frightening them (Luke 24:37). And how did He still their souls? He assured them of His physical resurrection; but He also pointed them back to God's word, which He'd spoken to them before His resurrection and which they would still have after He had ascended back to heaven. He gave them information and then He gifted them with illumination: He "opened their minds to understand."

What these disciples needed is what we need: to meet Jesus in the pages of Scripture. We may not be able to see Jesus physically, but we can read all that they read: all that is written about Him in the Old Testament and in the apostolic teaching of the New. We can see Him there as He opens our minds to do so. We need more than intellectual ability (though that is necessary); we need His supernatural activity. We need to ask the Spirit of God to show us the Lord Jesus, our Savior, as we read. May this humble prayer therefore be the cry of your heart today: "Lord, make the book live to me."

LUKE 24:44-52

Bible Through The Year: 2 Kings 17-18; Matthew 15:1-20

 TUSITE ME 27, 2025

FINDING HAPPINESS

KO E MA‘U‘ANGA ‘O E FIEFIA

JAMES 1:25

"But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

SEMISI 1:25

Ka ko ia ‘oku ne fakasio hifo ki he lao haohaoa, ‘a e lao tau‘atāina, ‘o ne ta‘utu ai, kae‘uma‘ā ‘oku ‘ikai te ne hoko ko ha taha fanongo kae ngalo, ka ko ha taha fai ngāue, ‘ē, ‘e monū‘ia ‘a e toko taha ko ia ‘i he‘ene fai.

Genuine happiness is to be found in following the pathway of obedience.

This is not the way the world sees it. In 21st-century Western culture, personal happiness and obedience to an authority are held to be mutually incompatible. But the Bible is clear: it is by obeying that we find ourselves "blessed." So how do we take this path?

The first step is simple: look intently into God's word. The word James uses for "look." parakupsas, is the same word used elsewhere to describe a looking that is not mere glance but rather a careful, considered focus (for example, 1 Peter 1:12: John 20:5, 11). To benefit from the Bible, we need to have a genuine desire to miss nothing of its truth and a genuine willingness to consider carefully what we are reading.

Second, make your study of the Bible one of steady perseverance rather than a burst of enthusiasm followed by chronic inertia. We are called to meditate on the law day and night (Psalm 1:2) and to keep returning to God's word as our source of insight and understanding (Proverbs 2:1-5). As we do this we will notice, over time, that we are living more and more in line with God's word and are more and more able to discern how God's word applies in the situations we find ourselves in.

Third, act on what you read. If the word of God calls us to action but we give no expression to that, then it should be no surprise when we find ourselves disappointed and disheartened. Blessing is found not merely in reading God's word but in living it. Ultimately, we are to respond obediently by doing what we have heard God say. 

The formula that James gives is straightforward: Hearing plus doing equals blessing. We see this principle throughout the Bible, including in the very words of Christ Himself. After He had washed the disciples' feet, Jesus turned to them and said, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John 13:17). Knowledge, in other words, should lead to action, and the blessing is directly related to Spirit-empowered doing.

To help you look intently at what the Bible says, ask simple questions: What does this passage teach me about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? What does this passage teach me about myself and what sin to avoid, what promise to accept, or what command to obey? As you continue along the pathway of obedience through God's enabling grace, the truth of His word will find a resting place in your heart and mind, and you will discover the freedom and blessing of a life lived God's way in His world.

JOHN 13:1-17

Bible Through The Year: 2 Kings 15-16; Matthew 14:22-36

 MONITE ME 26, 2025

FREED FROM DEATH'S GRIP

VETEANGE MEI HE HA‘I ‘O E MATE

MARK 5:2, 5-6

"When Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit... Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him." 

MA‘AKE 5:2, 5-6

2 Pea ‘i he‘ene hifo mei he vaka, na‘e fakafetaulaki leva kiate ia mei he ‘aaki fonualoto ha tangata kuo ‘iate ia ha fa‘ahikehe. 5 Pea na‘a ne ‘i he ngaahi fonualoto mo e ngaahi mo‘unga ma‘u ai pē, he po‘uli mo e ‘aho, ‘o kaikaila, mo tafatafa‘i ‘aki ia ‘a e ngaahi maka. 6 Pea ‘i he‘ene vakai mei he mama‘o kia Sīsū, na‘a ne lele, ‘o tū‘ulutui kiate ia

The man possessed by demons in Mark 5 was utterly alone. He was alienated from his community and, in a very real sense, alienated from himself. He defined isolation. He was greatly in need of help.

We may think we are nothing like this man. After all, we go about clothed. We are able to reason. No one has tied us up. We are not possessed by demons. Yet this man serves as a sobering illustration of our spiritual condition. The Bible says that, by nature, we are all ruled by dark and sinister forces and are dead in our trespasses (Ephesians 2:1-3). Outside of Christ, we may as well be living among the tombs. Outside of Christ, we are the living dead.

This reality is what makes an encounter with Christ so dramatic. For each of us, salvation is an encounter between life and death, light and dark, the power of Christ and the power of evil. The gospel does not just give purpose to life. The gospel is life itself.

This reality is also what makes our transformation in Christ so painful. We should not pretend that surrendering to Christ is easy. When this man possessed by demons encountered Jesus, he seemed to know that Christ was the one who could set him free - but at the same time, he was afraid of what that change would mean. Sinclair Ferguson says, "No man yields to Jesus easily by nature. Tragically, like [this man], men often hold on to their bondage in evil rather than yield to the pain of transformation by Christ's power and grace." It is painful to give up our little gods, painful to leave our dark captivity and emerge blinking into the light. But Jesus will allow no other gods before Him, for He will not allow any of His people to remain enslaved.

Only Jesus can cast out evil permanently. That is what this man experienced (Mark 5:15, 18-20), and that is what our lost friends and neighbors ultimately want. They don't just need a religion or system to make them better people. When they're honest, they know the problem lies primarily within them, not around them. Then they wonder, "Is there a power strong enough to conquer the evil within me?" There certainly is, and His name is Jesus the one who went through His death in order to rescue us from ours!  Today, let God remind you of what you are apart from Christ: alienated, lonely, lost. And then ask Him to assure you of what you are in Christ: an ever-living recipient of His eternal mercy. By nature you are a sinner, and in Christ you are saved. The more you grasp this, the more humble and joyful you will be.

MARK 5:1-20

Bible Through The Year: 2 Kings 12-14; Matthew 14:1-21

 SAPATE ME 25, 2025

TWO PRIDEFUL RESPONSES TO THE GOSPEL

KO E ONGO TALI ‘AFUNGI KI HE KOOSIPELI

1 CORINTHIANS 1:31

"Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." 

1 KOLINITO 1:31

Koe‘uhiā ke hoko ‘o hangē ko e tohi, Ko ia ‘oku vīkiviki, ke ne vīkiviki ‘i he ‘Eiki.

There are two ways to respond wrongly to the good news of the gospel: the self-righteous response that refuses to see a need for Christ and the self-deprecating response that refuses to see Christ's ability to forgive. Both issue from the common root of pride. The self-righteous response says, "I'm actually a pretty good person. I'm not sure I need forgiveness. Maybe it's good for some other people, but to be honest I don't need it" People who respond this way perhaps sense slight deficiencies in themselves and try to make up for them with good behavior. Maybe they even go to church to get some more "frequent attender miles" so that they'll get better seats in heaven. But still, their place in eternity will be, they think, secured by themselves their goodness, their efforts. The pride at the heart of this response is obvious: it is to think we are too good to need the gospel. Christ's sacrifice is a nice example of love to us but unnecessary for us as a way to be saved.

The self-deprecating response says, "I'm such a mess that I don't think there's any hope for me. I am too terrible to deserve forgiveness. It must be great to know you're forgiven, but to be honest I know I could never have that." People who respond this way simply cannot bring themselves to believe that Jesus could ever love and forgive them. The pride in this response is subtler than in the first, but just as real: we believe we are too dreadful for the gospel, that our actions have taken us too far away for Jesus to reach us. Christ's sacrifice is great for those who are better than us, but it could never be enough for us.

Whenever someone feels too good or too bad for the gospel (and Christians are not immune from this temptation), it is pride that is restraining them from coming to Christ. Their confidence - their boasting - lies in what they have done, for good or for ill. What pride misses, however, is that we can be neither good enough nor too far gone. The self-righteous among us need to hear that even our best days are filled with more flaws than we know. The self-deprecating among us need to hear that even our worst days are never beyond the reach of God's grace.

Both responses miss the core gospel truth that Christ's cross simultaneously knocks self-worth and lifts you from your worthlessness. When you're tempted to boast about your worth, then, remember that what you most need-salvation-comes from Christ alone. And when you're tempted to despair in worthlessness, remember that what you most need-salvation-was only ever yours because of Christ alone. No matter what, Christ is your confidence, your boast-and you can never brag about Him too much!

MARK 2:13-17

Bible Through The Year: 2 Kings 10-11; Matthew 13:31-58

 TOKONAKI ME 24, 2025

A SINNER, BUT FORGIVEN

ANGAHALA, KA KUO FAKAMOLEMOLE‘I

2 SAMUEL 11:4

"David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her."

2 SAMIUELA 11:4

Pea fekau atu ‘e Tēvita ha ni‘ihi, ‘o ‘omi ia; pea ne ha‘u kiate ia, pea ne mohe mo e fefine; (he kuo ne fai hono fakama‘a) pea ne foki ki hono fale. 

David's affair with Bathsheba is one of the most awful moments of Old Testament history. It is an account of unhindered lust, adultery, treachery, and murder. Perhaps we would rather not think about it - yet the Bible does not cast a veil of silence over it. We are actually provided with far more than we would ever want to know about David and far more than we want to face about ourselves.

David was the great king of Israel. For most of his life, he was a man of exemplary character. He had built a magnificent reputation by triumphing over God's enemies, showing kindness to those who did not deserve it, and ruling with justice. By 2 Samuel 11, David was at the pinnacle of his power. He was able to command and to control everyone and everything, it would seem - everyone and everything, that is, except himself. And so he used, in fact, abused - his power to compel a woman to break her marriage vow, as well as breaking his own, and then to cause a man to lose his life (v 14-15).

 And yet, even with this great failure, David remained chosen of God. The prophet Samuel had been sent by God with the instructions, "I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons" (1 Samuel 16:1). David was God's designated king - and remained so. The promises of God had been given to him, and through him the purposes of God for His people were being set forward. David's heinous sin did not alter that.

Is it really possible that God's purpose in history could have been accomplished through this man? Yes. The Lord Jesus, the one man in history who exercised perfect self-control, who always protected women, and who came to bring life, was the descendant of great, flawed, repentant David. And so the story of David teaches us that God's grace triumphs even over the greatest failures. God doesn't only use those who are morally spotless-for, apart from His own Son, no human matches that description. In fact, God uses very sinful people like David; He uses very sinful people like me and like you.

Maybe you, like David eventually was, are very aware of your sins, and you are wondering if you are too filthy for God to forgive or to use. Be reassured and be encouraged. Though your sins have real consequences, they are utterly incapable of putting you beyond the reach of God's grace. Nothing can. There is no one who does not need His forgiveness and there is no one who is beyond the reach of His forgiveness. The blood of Christ cleanses even the deepest stains, so long as you humble yourself and repent. And, cleansed by that blood, as a repentant sinner you are in that place where God is delighted to work in and through you - not for your glory but for His.

1 TIMOTHY 1:12-17

Bible Through The Year: 2 Kings 7-9; Matthew 13:1-30

 FALAITE ME 23, 2025

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF SIN

KO E KĀKĀ MO E HIKIHIKITŌ ‘A E ANGAHALA

2 SAMUEL 11:2-3

"It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, 'Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 

2 SAMIUELA 11:2-3

2 Pea ko e efiafi ‘e taha na‘e tu‘u ‘a Tēvita mei hono mohenga, ‘o hā‘ele ‘i he tu‘a fale ‘o e palasi; ‘o ne sio mei ai ki ha fefine ‘oku pālutu; pea ko e fefine matamatalelei? ‘aupito. 3 Pea fekau ‘e Tēvita ke fehu‘i pe ko hai ‘a e fefine. Pea tali ‘e ha taha, ‘Ikai ko Pātisepa ia, ko e ‘ōfefine ‘o ‘Eliami, ko e uaifi ‘o e motu‘a Heti ko ‘Ūlaia?

How did David go from godly king to abusive adulterer? It happened by degrees, as sin tends to.

First, David was all alone. This may appear to be a minor detail, but 2 Samuel 11:1 reveals how it was "the time when kings go out to battle"- yet David, instead of leading his men, had sent Joab to do the fighting in his stead. And so, instead of fulfilling his role as king,  David was all alone on the roof of his house.

From the roof, David saw a very beautiful woman bathing. He might have seen Bathsheba accidentally, but he could have prevented himself from staring at her. The problem wasn't that he unintentionally caught a glimpse; the problem was that he started to gaze. The eye was the point of entry through which temptation came to David, as it so often is.

But David not only saw; he also sent. After seeing Bathsheba, he began to think about her. He could have put that thought away and ended his descent into sin right there. But having failed at this point, his thoughts led to action, and he sent for information about the woman. He learned that she was Bathsheba, the wife of one of his greatest warriors. The realization that Bathsheba was married to Uriah should have ended the matter for David. He knew the commandment of God: "You shall not commit adultery" (Exodus 20:14). Yet even this did not stop him! When lust grips, conscience fades, and reason is obliterated. And so "David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her" (2 Samuel 11:4). There is no sense that she was given a choice in the matter.

This narrative should serve as a great warning to all of us. Paul warned the Corinthians, "Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). If David, a man who was greatly loved by God, could fall in this way, then we must never think that we are incapable of such a fall. Complacency is often the mother of sin. If David had taken heed, he would have led his men to war. He would have looked away. He would have stopped his thoughts. He would not have misused his power to sleep with Bathsheba. God has promised that "with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). And he provided David with many opportunities to stop. The tragedy is that David took none of them.

Like David, you will be tempted in this life - but God has promised that there will always be a way out. With which temptations are you particularly struggling at the moment? Thank God for His faithfulness. Pray that He will give you strength to endure temptation and so avoid sin's downward spiral. Take heed.

I CORINTHIANS 10:12-14

Bible Through The Year: 2 Kings 4-6; Matthew 12:22-50