"The Devil Made Me Do, Honey"

2 Samuel 24
David Takes a Census
1 Once again the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he caused David to harm them by taking a census. “Go and count the people of Israel and Judah,” the Lord told him.
1 Chronicles 21
David Takes a Census
1 Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.

Okay, so in Samuel, it is written that the Lord caused David to take the census, and in Chronicles it says that satan rose up and caused David to take the census. Interesting. I believe that as powerful as satan thinks he is, he cannot do anything unless God allows it. God was angry with Israel, so God allowed satan to work in this matter, causing further grief for a people to claimed to want to follow God. Now, America is not the modern day Israel; that distinction belongs to the Church. However, we see satan working mightily in America (and in the Church in America) today. We have allowed God to be kicked out of public discourse, and now our culture is such that standing up for the societal norm of marriage being between one man and one woman is the source of great ridicule and outcry for the “controversial nature” of such comments. Hmmm. Satan is laughing it up. The question remains, will the Church in America repent and follow the clear teachings of Scripture, or will we simply be content to stay in our own little bubble? Whatever happened to the command of being salt and light, anyway?

How could I do such a wicked thing?

Genesis 39
9 “No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.”

Joseph not only got it right, he got it with the right priority. To cheat his earthly master is to sin against God. To commit adultery is to sin against God. To dishonor those in a position of authority over him is to sin against God. Next time we are tempted to cheat, to dishonor, to fudge, to lie, to take what does not belong to us, etc. how about skipping all the rationalization, and just remembering that to do those things would be to sin against God?