Then David Got Up From The Ground...

It's interesting how self discipline works. If you take a break from it..... well, you stop having it altogether. I've been thinking about this since I noticed that there seemed to be a division between God and I that I used to accept, but can no longer stand. 

Here's the deal: in the same way that if you stay in bed for a year you will not have the strength to run a marathon, if you don't practice self discipline in the simple matters you will not have the strength to practice them in the big matters.

Let's look at David

In case you haven't heard, King David got lustful, slept with the wife of one of his soldiers, and then had the husband murdered. I love the subtle way that this story starts out in 2 Samuel 11: "In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight... However, David stayed behind." So, at the beginning we see that David has forgone his normal disciplines to stay behind and.... take a nap. That's all that the bible let's us know about his activities at home. That too is significant. How often do we do that? We're called into battle and we decide to stay home and sleep. 

Next we see the story of corruption unfold. David sleeps with another man's wife and then tries desperately to hide it (2Sam.11:6). I hate that part. 

It's so painful to have to watch as the best of the best... the man that conquered a Giant out of faith... the man that lived so in line with how God wanted him to... to watch him fall. To watch him disappoint.                                       

... but the story doesn't end there...