“We are not doing right. 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” (2 Kings 7:9 ESV).
When the armies of King Ben-Hadad of Syria besieged Samaria, the people of Israel were dying of starvation. Yet, the Lord revealed to the prophet Elisha that there would be plenty of food in the marketplace of Samaria within a day. That night the Lord caused the soldiers of Syria to hear the sounds of an approaching army and they fled in fear, leaving their supplies behind. At that same time, there were four lepers who sat at the city gate of Samaria who decided to surrender to the Syrians. When they entered the Syrian camp, they saw all the tents filled with food, supplies, and even silver and gold, and they ate and plundered the camp. Yet after a while, they felt bad about not sharing it with the starving and dying people of Israel. So, they headed back to Samaria to announce the “good news.”
We are like those four lepers. We freely received the grace and goodness of salvation when we surrendered ourselves to the Lord. Christ has freely given us all things. Yet, we are not like the four lepers if we fail to tell others the Good News about the riches of salvation we have found in Christ.
PRAYER: Lord, help us to be like the four lepers in that we have a holy urgency to share the Good News with others as they did. Help us to run back to the city gates and announce Your gospel to the city to which You have called us. In Jesus’ name, amen.