Pastor's Desk
September 3 , 2006
THERE IS AN interesting story in the Old Testament (2 Kings 7) about four lepers who had discovered vast amounts of food and wealth that a fleeing army had left behind. They were going from tent to tent eating and drinking and picking up anything of value they could carry. But in the midst of doing this they suddenly remembered that the people within the city were also hungry, having been under siege from the army which had mysteriously fled. The lepers said to each other, “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.” (2 Kings 7:9) So they went to inform the gatekeepers of the city about the good news.
When the news reached the king, he didn’t believe it. It sounded too good to be true. He thought it was a trick by the marauding army to lure them outside of the city walls so they could be destroyed. But the fact was that the LORD himself had miraculously caused the army to flee their camp and now the city was safe. Not only that. There was enough for everyone to eat. An unbelievable turnaround in a desperate situation!
This story can be seen as an illustration of the good news of the kingdom of God. Jesus has won the victory. There are a few who have understood it and are enjoying the benefits of salvation. But there are two obstacles which need to be overcome before the may will be able to enter into salvation. (1) They need to be told. (2) They need to believe it enough to act on it. As those who are already enjoying the benefits of salvation we need to find a way to communicate this good news in a convincing way so that even those who are skeptical will believe and receive. May the Lord help us to do that because spiritually we do live in desperate times!
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How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
This page was last updated on Friday, September 1, 2006