I’m living proof that gravity is real! This time of year, I’m reminded of two spring seasons when I wasn’t able to enjoy all the fun things I usually like to do when the weather is nice. Both incidents occurred on Mother’s Day, several years apart, and both ended with first my right arm, and then my left arm in a sling for most of the summer.
The first incident involved a hyperextended elbow. Playing baseball in the backyard with unsecured paper plates as bases on bare patches of earth sounded like a good idea at the time. When I was at bat, I hit a good line drive to right center field. I got greedy and thought I could stretch a double into a triple. But running at full speed and then stepping on a second base that was loosely resting on a dirt patch ended with a slip, a twist, and an awkward fall. Until it happened, I didn’t realize an elbow could extend backward. Two days later when it was finally x-rayed, I learned it was broken.
The second was two fractured wrist bones that required surgery. I thought I could get away with riding a 10-speed road bicycle at full speed offroad on a dirt path, no helmet, a mile from home. I was fortunate to walk away with only broken bones in my arm and a couple of cracked ribs. I knew my arm was broken when it happened but I learned how bad it was from the x-rays. I had to wait several days before the hand and wrist surgeon could put my arm back together.
Both accidents were painful, the recoveries long, and the summers weren’t as enjoyable. My family had to care for me, and as a consequence, their early summers weren’t as fun either.
Sin is like that. It looks like fun, and we think we can get away with it. It sounds good at the time and looks like a shortcut to fulfillment. But it always ends up costing us. We hurt ourselves and others, and then we miss out on fully experiencing the good gifts that are already ours.
Just like gravity pulls us all down when we slip, none of us are immune from slipping and falling into sin. King David falls big time into sin and in his arrogance, he thought he could cover it up and get away with it. But each time he tried to cover it up, it just led to more and more sin. Finally, because God loves David, God sends Nathan to rebuke him – to tell him the truth and call him back.
God’s heart is broken and wants to forgive. God continues to want to be in a right relationship with David, but David must first desire to return to God. Nathan’s rebuke is closely tied to discipline, correction, and the pursuit of a right relationship with God and others. When Nathan tells David a parable, David’s own words condemn himself and expose his hypocrisy. It is only by being humble and fully acknowledging the depth of his fall that David professes his guilt and seeks after God again. And God forgives him, and his life is spared, but there are still painful consequences.
God loves us and always wants to be in relationship with us too! That’s why God sent us his son Jesus. Not because we’re perfect or flawless, but because without him we can’t ever hope to be in a right relationship with God. Romans 5:8-9 says it best: “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.”
We all have the freedom to trust him, to be honest with him, to accept our limitations, and to rely on his guidance and mercy. Because of Jesus we have access to healing and restoring our relationship with God and relationships with others too. God’s love, grace, and mercy surround us while we’re still a mess. All we need to do is turn to God, trust, believe, and receive.