Why Do We Serve the Lord?

"But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return unto me." (2Sam.12:23)

Now, I'm going to talk about death. But, we have to make an agreement. We have to think of death as an existential comma, not a period, in the sentence of our eternal life. It is the movement of going from here to there, of going home. So when I talk about death, I'm talking about going home to our Father.

I'm not going to ignore the obvious question that this chapter screams at us: why did the baby have to die? We could come up with all sorts of reasons. Maybe God was saving it from having to live the life as David's only bastard son. Maybe God didn't kill the baby, He just didn't save it from its natural death. Maybe God spared the mortal life, bringing the child home early, because the Father didn't think David deserved such a child. Maybe He was teaching David a lesson. Then there's the next question: why was the baby punished because of David's sin? And I would ask you, was the baby punished?

While we are not responsible for Adam's, or David's, or any father's sin, we are exposed to the consequences, just as we are to anyone's choices. From Adam we have the consequence of mortality, from genes we could have a physical or mental disorder, from a father's low education we could have a low education. These are our trials. But, it is not a punishment. As is mentioned numerous times in the Book of Mormon any consequences from the sins of the fathers are are returned upon them. This means that any sin that the children commit because of the traditions and conditions they inherited from their parents they will not suffer the punishment for, but their fathers will be punished for it.

In the end, David and Bathsheba have another child, Solomon, whom the Lord loved. The Lord did not hate David or Bathsheba. And the chapter ends with another military victory for David. Now, why did the Lord not abandon David like He did Saul and others? The difference? David humbled himself before the Lord. He did not curse the Lord, he fasted. And he will spend the rest of his life seeking redemption. From David's example, we have to ask ourselves the same question. What if we made a mistake, did wrong, and therefore forfeited our blessings? Would we still love God, would we keep His commandments, would we seek after Him if there was nothing in it for us? Is our religion about prizes, or is it simply a story about a Father and His child?