In 2 Kings 7, we are in the thick of Elisha’s ministry and the signs and miracles as a prophet (floating axe head, chariots of fire, healing, etc.). Samaria is besieged by Syria in the midst of a famine and it’s so bad that people are not only eating donkey’s heads and dove dung, but have even started to turn to cannibalism. Meanwhile, there are lepers (the extreme outcasts of the time) that decide they will approach the attacking army to either be spared and receive food, or be killed. Their only hope for survival was mercy from the enemy intent on wiping them out.

However, when they approached the enemy camp, there wasn’t anyone there. All of the food, tents, silver and gold, and other supplies were left behind. “For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives.” (2 Kings 7:6-7) So, the lepers do what most of us would have done – DIG IN! They ate and drank and took spoils and buried them. They had a new outlook on life as the only people who knew of the vast treasures they now possessed.

Until…”Then they said one to another, We do not well; This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.” And of course, it took some convincing and investigation by the people to find out it was true and they really were saved. I sometimes wonder if those lepers were treated any differently as the bearers of good news.

As a Christian, I have the Good News of the Gospel to spread to a people in depravity who do not know their salvation has been provided by a miracle of God if they only reach out and take it. Of course we are commanded to go and take the message to them, but that’s not the purpose of this blog. This is for Christian growth. Which is why I believe that we (I) have a continuing responsibility to spread the good news of what God is continuing to do with each other to help us grow. Salvation is the foundation of your Christian life, what have you built on it? If someone asked you what God has done in the last week, month or year, do you know? Is your only reply to non-Christians, “When I was 15, I trusted Christ as my Savior,” or can you say, “Last week I felt God’s spirit moving me to start a new program in my community where I can tell kids that Jesus loves them.”? Being a Christian is an ever changing relationship with God AND God’s people (after all, we’re going to spend eternity together).
“Let me explain! No, there is too much. Let me sum up.” -Princess Bride Like the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, I have the responsibility to grow the talents I have been given. I used to use and grow them, but for too long, I have buried them and I “do not well” by keeping what God has done bundled up inside.