September 23: 2 Samuel 12:1-10
 
Key Verse: 2 Samuel 12:4
‘Now a traveller came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveller who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.’
 
Devotion:
The more hardships people face around the world, the more there are people who take advantage of the poor to promote their own ways. This may be the way we view things now, but this has been going on throughout time and will continue to happen until people take God seriously!
 
It is during the hardest of times the true extent of the disparity between the rich and the poor comes out. It is never more prevalent than when the poor are at their poorest and the rich are coasting along as if nothing is happening. Sadly, that time is now. I like the following verses in this passage where Nathan tells king David the ‘rich man’ in his story is David himself! Often, we do not see the damage we are doing until someone else has the courage to point it out.
 
Instead of rebuking people who are rioting or protesting, take a week to go through what evidence there is to support what they are complaining about; see for yourself how things are covered up. I say a week because, if we glance at the evidence, we will continue to cover it up with our own preconceptions. We need to take time to look over things so we can put aside our own bias thinking and seek the truth.
 
The same can be said about God. People put aside a relationship with God because of their perceived ideas about religion – something Christians all around the world are fighting against. We need to put aside our learned responses and work toward a love which encompasses all instead of a desire to promote oneself...
 
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever thought of yourself as being privileged?
 
Will you spend a week trying to find out the truth about something?