Sinning for the Right (not Conservatives)

by Ben

I read 2 Samuel 1-5.

With Saul dead, David's power begins to grow. In these chapters, we see the last of Saul's followers either killed or deciding to follow David. An important note: David doesn't do any of the killing of Saul's followers. He doesn't even order their deaths.

In fact, he does the opposite. When a soldier returns from the battlefront and tells David that he killed Saul (in order to prevent him from being taken or killed by the Philistines), David has him killed for betraying the Lord's anointed one. Later, when two men come to David, having killed and taken the head of Saul's main follower, King Ishbosheth (who had laid claim to the rest of Israel), he orders them to be killed for murdering an innocent man.

I guess this section is a prime example of why we shouldn't sin even when we can see the benefits for others from that sin. It reminds me of something I heard in a story the other day:

A boy is caught stealing apples in order to feed his sick mother. Tragic, yes...but it can be difficult for us to see it as that the boy is hurting the vendor by his action.

In the story, the boy is let off because a nearby cobbler (makes shoes, not made of apples) pays for the apples taken. Sound familiar? Someone else has paid for our apples. To explain further though, the cobbler tells the boy not to steal again, but instead to come and ask him for food when it is needed. Similarly, we should not continue to sin (even if it helps someone else); we should seek God's providence.