Live in Unity

Read 2 Samuel 13-14
 
2 Samuel 14:14 “All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him.”
 
HOW broken can a family be? Amnon, Absalom, Tamar – the violators and the violated – represent the pain of lust in the human heart. Then David, ruler of Israel, will not rule his house. Murder, revolution and senseless war are the ultimate result. David has conquered giants and subdued nations, but he would not battle the evil within. The psalm writer did not sing of forgiveness and reconciliation.
   Joab, David’s nephew and general, was certainly no man to admire. He was as vengeful as Absalom. His loyalty to David was tempered with motives to protect his power and authority. Still, God used him here to awaken David to a threat. He understood the father-son division could cause David to lose the throne and his legacy. Thus, Joab – as we’ve seen many times in the Bible – becomes another servant God anoints to speak his Word to his chosen leader. And for the second time, God uses a woman to change the course of David’s life. (Remember Abigail?)
   Joab wisely coaches the woman of Tekoa to reveal a powerful truth: “God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back.” Do you think these words reminded David of God’s response to David’s many sins?
   God has made a promise that David’s throne would lead to the eternal King. He will not let go of David. As God has repeatedly acted to reconcile Israel from their sinful ways, David must reconcile with Absalom. David is to be a father to his son as the LORD God is a Father to Israel and to David.
   David responded only partially to the admonition. He agreed to invite Absalom back home. Yet, once Absalom arrived in Jerusalem, David for two years rejected a face-to-face meeting. He is unwilling, apparently, to confront the pain of reconciliation. He will not, then, enjoy with his son the peace of resolution.
   Fathers, sons, - parents, children  - are you listening? Very many fathers and sons are separated because of some disagreement or prideful contest of supremacy in their relationship. But consider your Father in heaven! Who would you be if the Father had considered the pain of reconciliation too much to bear? Without Jesus’ painful death and the Father’s sacrifice, we would have no way to reconcile with God. Yes, reconciliation is painful. It requires we confront and confess our sins, our failures and all unpleasant things that cut God’s love out of our hearts. And be mindful that separation is more than painful. It is deadly. There is no life where relationships remain apart.
   Do you need to resolve your relationship with God? Rejoice and thank the Father that reconciliation makes you new: 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.