In our culture a census is not that big of a deal; every ten years a census is taken.  It seems odd to us that a census would be something that God would call a sin.  The thing was that God had promised David and the nation of Israel to multiply them until their numbers were like the sands of the seashore; meaning too great to count.  For David to do a census was to test God to see if His promise was coming true or not.  God also had a concern that this census would provide a source of pride and independence in the heart of the king and the people.

God had caused David to be very successful.  David had taken control over the nation of Israel and it was prospering under his leadership and control.  David had done a pretty good job of depending upon and following the will of God in his life.  But David slipped into that dangerous phase of a leader’s life; comfort.  David had become comfortable and nothing is more dangerous to a leader’s ability to lead than to become very successful and becoming comfortable in that success.

Satan used David’s success against him and the nation of Israel by planting the idea of a census in David’s mind.  This is the place that David could have had the victory; if he had only rejected the idea while it was still in his mind.  David was given another opportunity to do the right thing when Joab tried to talk him out of it.  David allowed his pride to get in the way of the right decision.

Too many leaders within God’s churches, ministries, and families fall into the same kind of trap.  God blesses them and they become successful.  They then fall into the trap of being comfortable in that success and forget who made them successful.  Then Satan very gently plants the seed of an idea in their minds.  That seed is then fed and nurtured by our pride and selfishness and before long we find ourselves involved in some kind of sin.  The sad thing about that is that it is not just the leader who suffers from their sin.  When David sinned, the whole nation suffered as a result of that.  The same is true in the churches, ministries, and families of God; when the leader sins it is not just the leader who pays for that sin.

God wants us all to be successful; though we need to understand and accept His description of success.  God doesn’t want us to allow our success to open a door into our lives for sin.  The best way to defend ourselves from this is to keep our focus on God and to continually point to God as the source of any good thing in our lives.  This must be done in the heart before it is done with the mouth but both must take place if you desire to see God’s continued blessings and protection.  Jesus, help us to only look at our successes as a way of glorifying and praising You.

Read: 1 Chronicles 19:1-21:30; Romans 2:25-3:8; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 19:10-12