Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 13-14; Luke 20:1-26.
Memory Verse: “And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.” 2 Samuel 13:13 KJV.
There is a reaction to every action. So there are always consequences for every action taken. Such consequences may be intended or unintended. Also it may be immediate or deferred but it’s important to note that there will always be a consequence for every action. Thus, a parent that gives his child everything that he asks for is building up a chain of reaction which will erupt at a later time. As a child of God, it is important that you recognize that every child in your care puts some responsibilities on you and how you carry that out will affect the future of that child. Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) states, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Thus a child that has never been told “No” will someday commit an anomaly and will expect the parent to condone it based on prior experience. This is why it is essential for you as a child of God to consider the consequences of every action that you take. It is noteworthy that not taking an action over a matter also has its own consequences because it sends a message.
Let’s briefly examine how, David, the great king of Israel faired in training his children and a few lessons from there. In 2 Samuel 13:2; Amnon fell sick because he wanted to have a carnal knowledge of her step sister, Tamar and he didn’t know how. And in 2 Samuel 13:6; he asked his father, king David to send Tamar to make cakes in his sight for him to be well and the father granted such a request without asking questions. First, did Amnon consider the consequence of his action of raping his sister? It seemed he knew his father would do nothing about it. The passage told us after the act, that his father was wroth with him and no record that any punishment was inflicted on him! Without any punishment, it opens the tap for his brothers to do several things knowing the king, their father will not do any serious thing against it. This weakness of King David over his household created chain of events that led to: raping of his daughter by his son ( 2 Samuel 13:14); killing of his son Amnon by another son, Absalom (2 Samuel 13:28-29) and burning of the farm of the king’s chief of staff, Joab by the king’s son, Absalom ( 2 Samuel 14:30) among many others.
It’s apparent that David was a great king who was quite objective and disciplined when he dealt with his subordinates but was rather weak in dealing with his children! How are you training your children or even yourself? Do you consider the consequences of every action you are about to take and more importantly, do you check them against the word of God? The Bible says in Romans 6:23 (KJV), “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The sad part of not considering the consequence of your action is that when one party does not consider the consequence it often affects negatively the party that considers the consequences. Thus, Tamar knew and stated the consequence of her brother’s intended action when she said in 2 Samuel 13:13 (KJV), “And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee.” But his step brother would not listen and so she was also bruised significantly. It is therefore important that you should train a child the way to grow so that his/her actions will not cause negative consequences for others in future.
Action Point: Always consider the consequences of any action before taking it.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero