reaping

So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without coming into the king's presence.

2 Samuel 14:28

Although king David showed himself to be an exemplary king, he was really an awful family man. He was taken to polygamy and sexual lust, marrying multiple wives and he even resorted to killing a man to take his wife to cover up an extramarital adultery. David wasn’t any better when it came to being a dad to the kids his many wives bore to him.

One son raped his half-sister in the palace and David ignored it. Absalom murdered the rapist son in revenge, fled from his father, and received no punishment. He then returned to the palace years later to be totally ignored by David. David’s approach to his most difficult problems was one many men choose to take: he ignored them at home and poured himself into his job as the king.

God warns us we will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7-8). And David’s family is a sad picture of that principle on display over years and years. Only by trusting Christ to forgive us and renew us can we be changed so that we can sow and reap eternal life.