Biblical Purity
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2 Samuel 24:10-17 10 David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” 15 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. 17 Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.”

One of the sad mysteries of life is that often people are hurt by the sin of others.  In this story, David sinned in commanding a census to be taken (when he should have trusted God rather than the strength of numbers).  The sin was David's, yet thousands of people died because of David's sin.  This shows the flaw in our thinking that sexual sin only affects ourselves.  The reality is that it also affects others who are involved in the sin, and others who are not involved in the sin but are involved in our life (like family and friends).  We really have no idea what the consequences and ramifications will be, but they may be much greater than we want them to be.

Lord, it scares me to think how those I love may be affected by my sin.  Please help me to walk in purity, and protect those around me from the consequences of my sin.

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