Today’s Devotional Theme
Who God Uses
Daily Scripture
2 Kings 7:4-5
“If we [4 lepers sitting at the city gate] say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.’ So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there.”
Encouragement
These lepers sat at the gate outside the Hebrew city day after day, destitute and without hope. The Hebrews shunned the lepers in their midst, recognizing leprosy as a kiss of death. Meanwhile God had sent the Syrian army (2 Kings 6) to punish the Hebrews. The result was famine in a besieged city without food. The lepers saw that entering the city would gain them nothing. They decided to slip into the Syrian camp where food and other provisions just might be found, knowing they’d probably die at the hands of their enemies. When they reached the camp of the Syrian army they found to their astonishment that the camp was empty! So they helped themselves to food and drink, silver, gold, and clothing. These 4 men reported back to the gatekeepers of the Israeli city that the Syrians had fled after “hearing” a God-engineered tumult of chariots and horses in 2 Kings 7:6. The Hebrews suspected a Syrian trap, so they sent two warriors to investigate. Their caution perhaps stems from a remembrance of how Joshua had used a similar tactic to overrun the city of Ai in Joshua 8. Were the Syrians now turning the tables in the Israelis? The spies reported back that the road out of the camp was littered with garments and weapons that the Syrians threw away in haste as they got out of there. The Hebrews flooded into the enemy’s camp and helped themselves to the Syrians’ goods, including ample food. The famine was over.
Take Action!
The account in today’s scripture dramatically demonstrates how God uses destitute but sold-out people to accomplish a great work in His kingdom. We don’t have to be “great” as the world defines greatness to do God’s work. But we do need to be sold out – our lives totally wrapped around the affairs of God. I used to want to be “great.” No longer. I long to be attentive to God’s voice and obedient. Don’t you?
Come into His Presence
Lord God, let us strive to listen to You and obey. Help us to keep in mind that success in society’s eyes is no prerequisite to doing a mighty work in Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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