Conspiracy

 DEVOTION

2^ND SAMUEL

CONSPIRACY

2 Sam 15:1-6

15:1 In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. 2 He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, "What town are you from?" He would answer, "Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel." 3 Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you." 4 And Absalom would add, "If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice." 5 Also, whenever anyone approached him to bow down before him, Absalom would reach out his hand, take hold of him and kiss him. 6 Absalom behaved in this way toward all the Israelites who came to the king asking for justice, and so he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

NIV

This is the beginning of a great conspiracy of Absalom to overtake the throne of his father, David. It is not going to end well, as we later learn, during what might be called a preparation for battle, Absalom is killed as he hangs from a tree. However, for now, he is trying to make himself the ruler, the judge of the people’s complaints or cases they bring to King David. It is always a bad idea to be involved in a conspiracy. We know how the Pharisees and priests, along with the whole Sanhedrin, conspired against Jesus. Although that may well have been God’s will so that Jesus would get to the cross. We have seen conspiracies in the church over the years, and we wonder why believers would engage in such an activity. We wonder if we can conspire on a personal level to gain our own way or to make ourselves better than someone. Perhaps it comes down to what our motive is for anything we say or do. Absalom’s motive was to become the king, to take the place of his father. What is our motive for anything or everything we say or do? Are we engaged in any conspiracy in order to gain something for ourselves? How could we, since we are commanded to love one another, just as Jesus loved us? Absalom wanted his own way, to win the hearts of the men of Israel. We are not supposed to want our own way, but to walk the path the Lord has laid out for us humbly. Whatever our path, it is the path he has shown and directed us so that we are all doing his bidding for the benefit of the whole assembly of believers. This is especially true within the local church. Yet, we have witnessed divisions, dissentions, hurt feelings, bad-biting, or gossip that may well come from a conspiracy to gain personal attention or popularity. We have witnessed men leave churches, mounting a conspiracy with others to start their own church. But the issue comes back to the personal level, and we should never try to overturn, or overpower, or make ourselves look better than another, for that is not love. Let us never conspire in any way for any reason.