April 23 – Repentability (2 Samuel 12:1-13)

“Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ “
(2 Samuel 12:13)

IN WORD:
Scripture is rich with the theme of humility. Jesus’ first beatitude should not have been as shocking as it was: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Peter’s mini-sermon on Proverbs 3:34 was nothing new: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5-6). Humility is good in God’s sight. It always has been.
Nowhere does humility show itself more clearly than in our ability to repent of our sins. David was confronted with his sin by Nathan’s incisive parable on sheep stealing. Many of us would have responded with an indignant “How dare you?” Or a “Who do you think you are?” But not David. David’s response, when he saw his sin, was grief. He was humble enough to acknowledge his own depravity. He was firmly rooted in the reality of man’s corruption. His level of “repentability” ran high.

IN DEED:
What do you do when confronted with your sins? Do you get defensive? Are you resistant? That may depend upon the one who is pointing out your sins to you. A friend’s rebuke is hard to take, a stranger’s harder still. The Bible rebukes us frequently, but we find it easy to ignore the Word when we want to. There are lots of pages to turn to when we want a more uplifting, encouraging thought. Regardless of where the rebuke comes from, we don’t usually want to be bothered with messages about our own corruption. We’d rather dwell on how far we’ve come than how far we have to go. We don’t like reminders of how long we’ve been disciples, we are in need of great mercy.
Test your level of “repentability.” Evaluate your response when you are confronted with your sin, either by another person or by the Word of God. Take your cues from David. Let humility be your guide, and see the mercy of God.

“No man ever enters heaven until he is first convinced that he deserves hell.” -John Everrett-