In 2 Samuel 11, David - a man after God’s own heart, King of Judah and Israel - had an affair with Bathsheba, got her pregnant, and then had her husband killed in war after trying to make him come home so it would look like the baby was his. Wow! What a tangled web we weave!

Nathan came to David and told him this parable in 2 Samuel 12:1-4:

“There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.”
Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

When Nathan told David this story, he was outraged at the rich man who had everything and said he should pay for that lamb four times over. Nathan said to him:

“You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’”
This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ “

Wow. Basically Nathan told David that he had everything he could imagine. If he wanted more, all he had to do was ask. Instead he took another man’s wife in private. Nathan told him that his son born to Bathsheba would die because he sinned against the Lord.

My question to you today is - What are you taking for granted? As Americans we are so incredibly blessed. I heard this statistic recently - Although Americans make up only 5% of the world’s population, we use almost 50% of the world’s resources. We as a country are so blessed. Even if you think you have nothing, you have more than a lot of people in the world.

So, count your blessings today. Even if you get frustrated with your job, your boss, your coworkers, etc. - God has blessed you with all of that. Remember to thank Him for all those. You may even have a better attitude! Think of David and Bathsheba when you are envious of what others have. You are blessed! Now act like it!