Crosspoint

They have betrayed the honor of the Lord, bearing children that are not his. Now their false religion will devour them along with their wealth.
(Hosea 5:7 NLT)

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Day and night he moped around in deep depression. As his son came closer and closer to death the king grew more and more morose. When the baby was awake the king would be at his side, watching, yet helpless for all his power. The best doctors and nurses that money could buy were there, but they too were helpless. This child was destined to die. If the baby was in another fitful bout of sleep, the king would move to the next room where he wrestled with God.
The child is innocent It is not his fault Take my life and let him live With many such pleas this powerful man would wrestle with the One who was all powerful. But it was no use. Slowly the childs heart was weakening, and gradually the kings depression was growing. And finally, the baby breathed its last breath. And the king lost the treasure of his heart.

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It was the perfect shot. No, serious, it was amazing. In all my years up to that point and in all my time since, I have never seen a shot come even close to the distance we got on this one. You see, we were camped at the top of this small hill. There were seven or eight families with a good forty or more people all together clumped in a group of campsites at Letchworth State Park. About twenty or so people had been watching or participating in a competition to see how far we could launch water balloons into the open field below us.
A little to the left and far beyond where any of our shots was landing was a pavilion where some other group was having their party, or reunion, or barbecue whatever. They had a few of their guys playing Frisbee football and Mike, Andj, and I had a devious scheme (as any preteen or young teenager would) to see if we could hit one of them on our turn. So as I pulled back with the launcher, at the last second one of them leaned back and the other forward. And I let it loose.
It was amazing. To be honest, I was expecting the balloon to fall short. I was simply expecting to cause a little mischief. Where they were playing was a bit beyond the far end of the adults range, and us younguns werent doing nearly as well. But the balloon just kept going. Like I said, I never in my life have seen such a perfect shot.
It didnt hit any of those players. It went well beyond them. This pavilion had a tin roof and that little water balloon landed dead center on the side facing closer to us. Were talking a hundred feet or more beyond the best launch yet. You couldnt launch a golf ball that far. And when it hit. Wow. I can only imagine what it sounded like down there. Im just grateful there were no elderly people (I think) or I would surely have caused a heart attack. The best part is that it landed with such force that it was already starting to bounce when it burst open. So there wasnt even that to dissipate the noise.
But now the shock was wearing off and some of those guys playing Frisbee football, those awfully big guys, were heading across the field to the hill. They had actually covered more than half the distance when I was able to snap out of my own awe at what I had accomplished. The water balloon launcher was at my feet. The rest of our circle of campsites was vacant. In the distance you could see a couple people biking away at breakneck speeds. The rest had all shut themselves up in their campers. I didnt think to try any, but Im sure every one of those doors was locked. There had been at least a dozen adults around along with as many of my supposed friends. But they had all abandoned me. They had all left me to face the music alone.

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I was the one who had launched the balloon. It was my idea and I was the one to convince my two accomplices to go along. But I was not the only one my sin effected. My actions reflected negatively upon everybody at the campsite and they all ran or hid in shame because of my actions. King David recognized this fact as well. His sin reflected negatively not only on him but on his entire nation that he was supposed to be leading. More than that, he had betrayed his God. That is why he said during his moments of prayer while the child was dying, Against You [God], and You only have I sinned.
God forgave Him, but he still had to pay the consequences of his sin. The child born of his sin was taken from him. And when it was time for me to face the music, I found that the wealth of my family and friends was taken from me.
What sins am I still committing today and what will God have to strip away to truly set me free?