The First Week of August
We Read…
Nathan’s story to David is one of my favorite passages in scripture. It is so real, devastating, and funny to think about! Can you imagine David getting mad as Nathan tells this story? He’s probably red in the face, fists are balled by his side, and at the end of it, he can’t help but shout out against this awful rich man! But then Nathan hits him with the most powerful statement: “You are that man.” Do you think Nathan yelled this at David? Do you think he whispered it to him? And can you picture David’s face when the reality of what he had done to Bathsheba and her husband finally came to light, finally hit home, and finally sank in?
Nathan took a big risk coming to David. We know that David wasn’t above killing people to keep his secret hidden, but David trusted Nathan. David listened to this story, which was clearly unfair, and his heart was open enough to hear God’s correction. Nathan spoke a powerful truth with love, as our Ephesians passage discusses. He loved David and wanted David to see how much pain he had caused, so he spoke the truth covered in a story.
Psalm 51 is attributed to David after this moment of correction, as he asks God for forgiveness for the terrible things he did. He realizes that only God can wipe away all he has done and asks God for a clean heart. Are we willing to be corrected by people who love us? Can we lay down our pride and ask God to make our hearts clean and new? Are we willing to ask for forgiveness from those we have wronged, even when we didn’t mean to?
2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her back to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. But what David had done was evil in the Lord’s eyes. 1 So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived he said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich, one poor. 2 The rich man had a lot of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing—just one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised that lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his food and drink from his cup—even sleep in his arms! It was like a daughter to him. 4 “Now a traveler came to visit the rich man, but he wasn’t willing to take anything from his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had arrived. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the visitor.” 5 David got very angry at the man, and he said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the one who did this is demonic!6 He must restore the ewe lamb seven times over because he did this and because he had no compassion.” 7 “You are that man!” Nathan told David. “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and delivered you from Saul’s power. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and gave his wives into your embrace. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. If that was too little, I would have given even more. 9 Why have you despised the Lord’s word by doing what is evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and taken his wife as your own. You used the Ammonites to kill him. 10 Because of that, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite as your own, the sword will never leave your own house. 11 “This is what the Lord says: I am making trouble come against you from inside your own family. Before your very eyes I will take your wives away and give them to your friend, and he will have sex with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did what you did secretly, but I will do what I am doing before all Israel in the light of day.” 13 “I’ve sinned against the Lord!” David said to Nathan. “The Lord has removed your sin,” Nathan replied to David. “You won’t die.
Psalm 51:1-12
1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love! Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion! 2 Wash me completely clean of my guilt; purify me from my sin! 3 Because I know my wrongdoings, my sin is always right in front of me. 4 I’ve sinned against you—you alone. I’ve committed evil in your sight. That’s why you are justified when you render your verdict, completely correct when you issue your judgment. 5 Yes, I was born in guilt, in sin, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 And yes, you want truth in the most hidden places; you teach me wisdom in the most secret space. 7 Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and celebration again; let the bones you crushed rejoice once more. 9 Hide your face from my sins; wipe away all my guilty deeds! 10 Create a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me! 11 Please don’t throw me out of your presence; please don’t take your holy spirit away from me. 12 Return the joy of your salvation to me and sustain me with a willing spirit.
Ephesians 4:1-16
1 Therefore, as a prisoner for the Lord, I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. 2 Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, 3 and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. 4 You are one body and one spirit, just as God also called you in one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father of all, who is over all, through all, and in all. 7 God has given his grace to each one of us measured out by the gift that is given by Christ. 8 That’s why scripture says, When he climbed up to the heights, he captured prisoners, and he gave gifts to people. 9 What does the phrase “he climbed up” mean if it doesn’t mean that he had first gone down into the lower regions, the earth? 10 The one who went down is the same one who climbed up above all the heavens so that he might fill everything. 11 He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. 12 His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ 13 until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we aren’t supposed to be infants any longer who can be tossed and blown around by every wind that comes from teaching with deceitful scheming and the tricks people play to deliberately mislead others. 15 Instead, by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ, 16 who is the head. The whole body grows from him, as it is joined and held together by all the supporting ligaments. The body makes itself grow in that it builds itself up with love as each one does its part.
John 6:24-35
24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus replied, “I assure you that you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate all the food you wanted. 27 Don’t work for the food that doesn’t last but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Human One will give you. God the Father has confirmed him as his agent to give life.” 28 They asked, “What must we do in order to accomplish what God requires?” 29 Jesus replied, “This is what God requires, that you believe in him whom God sent.” 30 They asked, “What miraculous sign will you do, that we can see and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” 32 Jesus told them, “I assure you, it wasn’t Moses who gave the bread from heaven to you, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!” 35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
We Think…
What stands out to you in these verses? Does anything confuse you or not make sense?
How do these verses compare to your own experience in life or the church? What are you considering? What questions come to mind?
Why did Nathan have to tell David a story?
Would direct confrontation have had the same effect?
What does it mean to live as people worthy of the call?
We Feel…
What emotions are you experiencing today? How are you making space for these feelings?
Where have you seen God today or this week? What is pointing you to God (maybe something in creation, maybe a friend or adult who cares for you)?
What has God made new in your life? In your heart?
When have you needed to ask for forgiveness? How did it feel before and after?
When have you needed to offer forgiveness? Is it harder to give or receive forgiveness?
We Believe…
One of the most beautiful parts of our lives is that God constantly shapes and forms us. Even when we’re old and have lived almost all of our days, God is still doing new things in us if we are willing to let God! David asks for God’s intervention after he strays, and God is faithful in forgiving him. Ephesians reminds us to be unified in God, to use our gifts for the church, and to practice humility, gentleness, and patience. God is helping us in all of these! God is leading us to become mature in our faith, and there is no end date to when we’ve become mature “enough.” We believe that God instantly forgives us and that we can be entirely sanctified, but that doesn’t mean God’s work in our hearts and lives is finished. God always wants to help us grow and become more Christlike!
We Practice…
A part of becoming mature in our faith is repenting, both from the things we have willingly done (or ignored) and also from the things we haven’t realized yet. Read Psalm 51:1-12 out loud, and pray the words as your own words today. Ask God for forgiveness for anything that is heavy on your heart, and also ask God to reveal anything that needs to be made new. As we grow as people and Christians, God will convict us in new ways and lead us to become more like God. It isn’t always easy, but it is worth it.