2 Samuel 12

Jesus used parables as a way to teach someone a certain principle or truth without explicitly mentioning it. Jesus knew how to teach and the ways that we would listen, you could speculate that he didn’t want us to believe something was bad or immoral just because it was, but instead wanted us to discover what those things were ourselves and how it affected us. That’s where parables are really helpful, because they describe a scenario that will reach people in different ways and teach us different things. 

When this chapter begins with the story of the rich man and poor man, it might feel “parable-esque”. It describes a scenario in which it will be used to teach someone a very important lesson. For the prophet Nathan, he approached David with this story as a means to help him realize that not only what He had done to Uriah was against the law, but also against God and there would be discipline because of it. He doesn’t even let David discover this truth himself but instead says to him, “You are the man!”. David recognized his sin of self-righteousness and ingratitude and embraced the disciple God brought to Him and His family.  

When you read the story of the rich man and poor man, how did you relate? Did you ever take something that wasn’t yours to take? Or made your own path/plan instead of surrendering those things to God? If you think that applies to you, you are in good company. Because reader, we are like the rich farmer in this story. In our nature we try to choose our own way, we seek to fulfill our needs and desires sometimes at the expense of others. 

David Guzik in his commentary on this very chapter mentions this about sin, “A personal salvation requires a personal conviction of sin. It wasn’t enough for David to confess that he was a sinner in a general sense; he had to confess his sin at this very point.” 

In which ways is God leading you into repentance? How can you live in the freedom of repentance instead of the entrapment of sin? 

Now, believe that through the resurrection we no longer live in the bondage of sin but have been given new life! Believe that your identity as an image-bearer has not changed, God still calls you His, and wants to see us transform from the inside out!