I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris Page A
Authors: Joshua Harris
him, we often have pricked consciences but unchanged lives. If we were honest with ourselves, many of us would admit that we're not really interested in purity at all. Instead, we feel satisfied by meeting the minimum requirements, content with spending our time in the "gray areas," flirting with darkness and never daring to step into the light of righteousness.
Like countless Christians, my two friends foolishly viewed purity and impurity as separated by a fixed point. As long as they didn't cross the line and go all the way, they believed they were still pure. True purity, however, is a direction, a persistent, determined pursuit of righteousness. This direction starts in the heart, and we express it in a lifestyle that flees opportunities for compromise.
one little step at a time
If we truly seek to live pure lives, we can't allow ourselves to detour from the pursuit of righteousness for even a second. A story from the life of King David shows how dangerous such a detour can be. Few stories in the Bible fill me with as much dread as the story of David's fall into sin with Bathsheba. If a righteous man like David could fall into adultery and murder,
the direction of purity 89 who on earth can claim to be safe from temptation?
David walked in an intimacy of communion with God few have known. As a shepherd boy and as the king of Gods people, he wrote the psalms--praises and petitions that encourage and inspire Christians to this day. David reveled in his Creator, worshiped Him, trusted Him, and enjoyed Him. God Himself called David a "man after my own heart" (acts 13:22).
55 How could a man with such credentials descend so deep into sin and impurity?
One little step at a time.
Davids plunge into sin didn't occur in a single leap. Like every journey into sin, David's journey into iniquity began with an almost imperceptible movement away from God.
When we first notice David's slide toward sin, we see him on the rooftop of his palace, but he had created the context for his misstep through an earlier decision. It was the spring of the new year, when kings led their armies to battle. But this year, David didn't go to the battlefield with his army. Instead, he stayed home. The choice may have been trivial, even justifiable, but the fact is that David was not where he was supposed to be-- he was not on the front lines fighting God's battles.
Was this sin? Not blatantly, but it was a small step away from God's plan.
You may have heard people say that idleness is the devil's workshop, and so it was for David. The energy he should have exerted on the battlefield needed an outlet. Restless, he paced the palace rooftop. From there he caught sight of a woman bathing. Instead of averting his gaze, he indulged his desires and looked.
Another step.
Why did he continue to watch? He had seen the female body before, having married many times. But he coveted. Sin
go johua harris came in the form of a thought--David desired that which did not belong to him. Instead of rejecting the vileness of this thought, have pounds entertained it, letting it linger in his mind.
If y'r like every other human being, you've faced such a moment a? this. Dwelling on the pros and cons of bowing to temptation, you have to make a choice. Will you or will you not stay within God's clear boundaries?
At this point in David's story, he could have stopped his journey toV^rd sin. Instead, his hesitating steps down the path quickened into a run. He allowed lust to take control. David acted on his wicked imaginings, sent for Bathsheba, and slept
with her.
The innocent shepherd was now an adulterer. Complications arose. Bathsheba sent a message that she was pregnant. l^That husband had been away
56 from home for some
time he cpuld not have fathered the child. Surely Bathsheba's
husband, perhaps the whole nation, would discover her and David's impropriety. In haste and panic, David attempted to cover up the sin, but his attempts failed. Fearing certain
Like countless Christians, my two friends foolishly viewed purity and impurity as separated by a fixed point. As long as they didn't cross the line and go all the way, they believed they were still pure. True purity, however, is a direction, a persistent, determined pursuit of righteousness. This direction starts in the heart, and we express it in a lifestyle that flees opportunities for compromise.
one little step at a time
If we truly seek to live pure lives, we can't allow ourselves to detour from the pursuit of righteousness for even a second. A story from the life of King David shows how dangerous such a detour can be. Few stories in the Bible fill me with as much dread as the story of David's fall into sin with Bathsheba. If a righteous man like David could fall into adultery and murder,
the direction of purity 89 who on earth can claim to be safe from temptation?
David walked in an intimacy of communion with God few have known. As a shepherd boy and as the king of Gods people, he wrote the psalms--praises and petitions that encourage and inspire Christians to this day. David reveled in his Creator, worshiped Him, trusted Him, and enjoyed Him. God Himself called David a "man after my own heart" (acts 13:22).
55 How could a man with such credentials descend so deep into sin and impurity?
One little step at a time.
Davids plunge into sin didn't occur in a single leap. Like every journey into sin, David's journey into iniquity began with an almost imperceptible movement away from God.
When we first notice David's slide toward sin, we see him on the rooftop of his palace, but he had created the context for his misstep through an earlier decision. It was the spring of the new year, when kings led their armies to battle. But this year, David didn't go to the battlefield with his army. Instead, he stayed home. The choice may have been trivial, even justifiable, but the fact is that David was not where he was supposed to be-- he was not on the front lines fighting God's battles.
Was this sin? Not blatantly, but it was a small step away from God's plan.
You may have heard people say that idleness is the devil's workshop, and so it was for David. The energy he should have exerted on the battlefield needed an outlet. Restless, he paced the palace rooftop. From there he caught sight of a woman bathing. Instead of averting his gaze, he indulged his desires and looked.
Another step.
Why did he continue to watch? He had seen the female body before, having married many times. But he coveted. Sin
go johua harris came in the form of a thought--David desired that which did not belong to him. Instead of rejecting the vileness of this thought, have pounds entertained it, letting it linger in his mind.
If y'r like every other human being, you've faced such a moment a? this. Dwelling on the pros and cons of bowing to temptation, you have to make a choice. Will you or will you not stay within God's clear boundaries?
At this point in David's story, he could have stopped his journey toV^rd sin. Instead, his hesitating steps down the path quickened into a run. He allowed lust to take control. David acted on his wicked imaginings, sent for Bathsheba, and slept
with her.
The innocent shepherd was now an adulterer. Complications arose. Bathsheba sent a message that she was pregnant. l^That husband had been away
56 from home for some
time he cpuld not have fathered the child. Surely Bathsheba's
husband, perhaps the whole nation, would discover her and David's impropriety. In haste and panic, David attempted to cover up the sin, but his attempts failed. Fearing certain
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