Elisha
June 29
2 Kings 7:1-11
A dying city
The king of Syria led his whole army against Israel and surrounded the city of Samaria. No one could go in or out! People inside the city became very hungry because there was no food, but Elisha told the king, “This is what the Lord says, ‘By tomorrow there will be plenty of food again.’”
There were four men outside the city wall who had a sickness called leprosy. They said to each other, “We have nothing to lose. We are going to die anyway so let’s go to the Syrian camp.” They didn’t know that the Lord had made the enemy troops hear the sound of a large army of horses and chariots, which made them run for their lives.
When the four men reached the camp, nobody was there. As they went into one tent after another they found gold, silver, clothing, and food. Then they said to each other, ”Come, let’s go tell everyone!” So they rushed back to the city to give the other Israelites the good news.
Is there really a treasure inside me?
Don’t you love those stories where the most unlikely character becomes the hero? Well, the four beggars lived outside the city for a reason—no one wanted them! They had an ugly skin disease and so they were thrown out of the city.
However, when they found the enemy camp empty with lots of treasure and food left behind, they were far better off than those starving inside the city. The beggars could have been spiteful and kept it a secret, but they went back to share the good news. The way they looked on the outside was no longer important—the message they had, was!
Our bodies, which are like fragile jars of clay, are not perfect. It doesn’t matter what we look like on the outside, we have a precious treasure inside us—the good news of Jesus. Share it with others!
Verse for today
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7
