Subtle Differences

Last night along with millions of other people I watched Super Bowl XLV. I love the whole pre-game show and even the pre-pre-game show with all the back stories on the players. It’s a fun day for me. My husband ran out to get some burgers about 30 minutes before the game started, so I watched the pre-game show by myself. When he returned I said, “I think she sang the national anthem wrong.” It seemed so subtle to me that I wasn’t 100% sure at first. My husband thought I was just caught up in the moment, because I love that stuff. It makes me smile…all the pomp and circumstance before the big game. Unfortunately for Christina Aguilera the whole world knows today that I wasn’t mistaken. She did mess up the words to the national anthem. Honestly I felt bad for her all day today. That’s a lot of pressure and whole lot of people watching you sing live. However, it keeps occurring to me how uncertain I was if the words were wrong.

Last week in my Bible study discussion group we had a similar moment. We were reviewing David’s life and the steps he took that led to him committing adultery and murder. At the end everyone said God was mad at King David. But was he? Is that what it really says in 2 Samuel 11:27?

“After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.”

God wasn’t mad at King David. He was displeased with David’s actions. The choices he made displeased God. It’s a subtle, but very important difference to know. I make bad choices all the time that dishonor God. It’s easy to think in the conviction and consequences of those decisions that God doesn’t like me. But that’s not true. God loves me, all the time, no matter what. He loves you too and that doesn’t change.