WILL WE DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY?

Wednesday: February 5, 2020

Reference: 2 Samuel 24:1-17

2 Samuel 24:13 So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”

When options are put on the table, one examines them to look at the potential as well as the risk related to each one of them. When there is the option to abandon making the choice entirely and walk away, that is sometimes a better alternative. But what do you do when you have no other pool to pick from but the options laid before you? What do you do?

King David found himself in such a dilemma where he had to make a pick from what we could refer to as ‘three unpleasant choices’: three years of famine, three months of enemy pursuit or three days of pestilence? I am not certain which I would have gone for but I like David’s response because eventually, he eliminated one of the three options and left God to cast the deciding vote.

To do this, he cited a preference for falling into the hands of God than those of man. Even when he knew he had sinned, he opted to abandon himself to the mercy of God and that is a reminder for us, that mercy is always available with God. What is even more intriguing was that even though David was the one at fault with the census, the consequences of his actions was to be visited not just on him alone, but the entire nation.

That ought to tell us something: even though we may be acting in our own interests with the choices we make, it should be at the back of our minds that the ripple effects reach beyond us. Maybe not immediately recognisable, but there are clearly consequences of our decisions that impact the lives of those who may not have any direct involvement in the actual deed.

Perhaps we don’t pay much attention to the idea above, but if we did, would it alter the course of our lives and the decisions we make in anyway?
Will we reason beyond just the choice before us to consider what occurs beyond? Do ponder on these words.

#sly