This is a classic story of King David and Bathsheba. In fact, it’s one of the most famous in the entire bible. There have been movies and tv shows made about it. Why is it so popular? Is it because it has sex with another man’s wife? Or because it has murder? It’s been popular to teach as a tool for when we are not doing what we should be doing (David should have gone off to war) we can make mistakes that affect our entire future.

This week it came to mind because the bible study on Thursday discussed about God’s wrath and sin. Specifically, it mentioned how we should be avoiding shows like Game of Thrones because of the brutality and the incest and the sex it vividly depicts. I thought it was sort of funny, mostly because there are stories like the one above that are non-fiction and in the bible that are just as gruesome and dramatic and vivid. David and Bathsheba is one of them.

Why did God leave this story for us?

In Christian circles I find people try to eliminate their sin. They find all kinds of ways to create new habits, read up on self help, and avoid places that foster temptation. But in Mark 7, Jesus tells us that it’s not what we watch that defiles us. In fact, it’s nothing on the outside of us at all. We are already defiled from within. The things we absorb merely draw those things out of us. (Jesus) went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20-23

So again, why did God leave this story for us? To reveal how deeply we are defiled from within and the ramifications of sin. Sin is serious business to God and it should be serious business for us.

I have been reflecting on sin because my book is a graphic book in many ways. There is a double murder of the preacher and his wife, there is mild sex, gun fights, and betrayal. I think when we read things that depict sin in graphic ways we want to run from them. I personally find some shows and music harder to listen to than others. Some are so heinous and so evil I honestly cannot watch them. But it made realize, if we did not know the depravity of sin, how would know how holy God is? God describes himself as holy over 1000 times in the bible. I believe that is why these stories have been handed down in the Bible text for generations. They show how defiled humanity truly is not just now but since forever.

I think Christians specifically want to talk about God’s wrath, our sin, and the hell fire to warn sinners. But deep down, God has “set eternity in the human heart” Ecc 3:11. I think we focus on the wrong element of sin. The part we must recognize is that sin will always survive in this world. ALWAYS. There is not a day a man goes without sinning (Ecclesiastes 7:20). There are no habits, no self help, no avoidance that will keep us from sin. Even when we are not sinning, people sin against us. That is how sin works. It ripples into everything and everyone around us. We are all affected by sin.

In fact, that’s why I wrote such a grievous sin in my book. It affected every single character in the text. Sin is so far reaching.

The only cure for sin is Jesus. That’s it. Every single day we must know that we will sin at some point during the day and that we need Jesus’s blood on the cross to wash us clean. That’s the cure. It’s not about curing yourself or finding ways to abstain. It’s about Jesus. When we shift the focus to Jesus, He washes us clean and we are able to draw close to God’s holiness. God is that incredibly holy. In Exodus 24:10, it describes God’s feet standing on lapis lazuli. God’s serious about sin because He is so holy that his feet stand on literal gemstones when he reveals himself.

Now don’t get me wrong, if you hang in bad company you will make bad choices (1 Corinthians 15:33). We cannot wink at sin. We should not follow the path of the unrighteous and wind our way into places and with people who live sinful lifestyles or have sinful habits. They will eventually corrupt us no matter how strong we are. But it is not the shows or the music. It’s not the bars. It’s us.

Does it make you feel weak to know the only way to defeat sin is Jesus? At times it makes me feel weak. You cannot do enough good deeds or avoid enough bad places to cure yourself. You will always encounter sin. Sin is unavoidable. And Jesus is the only way to be cured. That’s it. There are no short cuts or work arounds for it.

How do we know how defiled we are? Not only does Jesus tell us but how we respond to sin shows us that.

It’s what we speak. It’s how we treat those who persecute us. It’s how we act when we are suddenly thrust in the temptation to lie or cheat or steal. It’s the fruits of the spirit by which God measures us. Are we patient, loving, kind, joyful, good? Are we at peace?

Only you can answer that for yourself. But I know in my life God is constantly reminding me that I cannot cure sin and that I so desperately need Jesus daily to wash me clean and make me white as snow. When I am writing, I am always reminded that while I can depict sin as the Bible does, I have a responsibility to show that Jesus is the healer. To stand in God’s presence and have relationship with him, we have to be cleansed of our sin just like David had to be cleansed. Even the man after God’s own heart was affected by the depravity of sin which drove him to repentance. So we are mindful now, we repent now, we turn to Jesus now.