READING: 2 Samuel 13-15
“Amnon was frustrated to the point of making himself sick over his sister Tamar. . ..”
2 Samuel 13:2
Lust has a way of controlling us. In fact, its power is so strong that it has caused the fall of great men and women. It has cost kingdoms and careers. It grabs a heart, turns it into selfish stone, and compels it to use another human being. I’ve seen lust destroy a man’s soul even while it reins over his body. And, in our evil state, we have a destructive way of rationalizing our lust, labeling it as “love” and “happiness” and “fun” and “desire” in the face of God who calls it “sin.
Today’s reading about Amnon paints this same picture. Amnon was “infatuated” with his half-sister Tamar—so much so that the text says he was “making himself sick” over her (2 Sam. 13:1-2). His “sickness”—whatever that was—was apparently obvious enough that his cousin Jonadab saw he was “miserable every morning” (2 Sam. 13:4). So, over against the law of God and the protests of Tamar, Amnon and Jonadab devised a plan that paved the way for Amnon’s raping Tamar. That plan including lying to his father and ignoring the impassioned pleas of his sister. She warned him that he not only would be violating the law, but he would also be bringing reproach on her and himself. None of that mattered to him, however, as the lust of his heart and body clouded the hearing of his ears and the wisdom of his mind. That decision would eventually cost him his life at the hands of his avenging brother, Absalom.
The result was anguish and pain for many because of only a few moments of pleasure. . . . but that’s what lust does. It elevates the fun and denies the consequences.
Until it’s too late, that is. Lust pleases and kills at the same time.
ACTION STEPS:
- Confess any lust in your life today.
- Pray for your pastors today, asking God to protect them from lust.
PRAYER: “God, protect me and those I love from this sin. Help me, Father.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Psalms 3, 4, 13, 28, 55
