Uriah, Responsible To The End
Our JG study today is from 2 Sam. 11:1-27. Uriah was an unusual man, a very loyal soldier and one who took both responsibility and response ability serious. He had three opportunities in which his response ability gave him freedom of choice. David was conniving to get him to sleep with his wife in order to cover up his own conception of a child with Bathsheba. This effort by David afforded Uriah his first two response abilities. His choices showed him to be a man of great discipline and loyalty.
(1) David brought Uriah is on the false pretense of getting a report about the war. He then gave Uriah the freedom to go to his house and be with his wife. Uriah was proud to serve his country as a soldier. It was not just a job (responsibility) for him. He was not going to take every chance he could to get away from it. Unknown to David, his response was to resist temptation and be loyal to his God (tabernacle), his nation, his comrades and his captain. He took the higher road in those circumstances. Almost always, when Christians (soldiers for God) think about their response ability, they take the higher road, the positive way. What we do is no longer just a responsibility, but a response ability. Don’t you find that is true of yourself?
(2) Uriah’s second response ability was given to him when David learned he had spent the night with the king’s servants rather than go down to be with Bathsheba. David invited him in to eat and made him drunk. Even then, when he went out to sleep, Uriah chose to be loyal and did not go down to his wife. Response ability is a powerful blessing. May we all see it as such.
(3) The third response ability was afforded to Uriah when David had him murdered. I have been told that the term ‘longsuffering’ was often applied to the soldier who held his post even in the face of certain death. Uriah displayed that characteristic. In his response ability to choose fight or flight, he chose responsibility. Our fight against Satan will often make our lives difficult. May we, like Uriah, choose responsibility over self? For God’s people, it is the approval of the Master for which we live and die.
Ability plus opportunity equals responsibility (response ability).
