Scripture

Our verse for today comes from 2 Kings 7:3, “Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, ‘Why are we sitting here until we die?'”

Background

Four weeks from today, I will be going on my first mission trip. At 46 years old, I am leaving the country for the very first time. Now, I have not had anything against missions. In fact, ever since college I have considered going on a trip, but I never pursued the idea or took the necessary steps to make it happen. The desire would come, and then it would go, as I would hear about how the Lord was working in this area or that region. But I never became committed and made the plans to go. But all of that has changed. That’s what happens when you realize that you can sit at the gate like a leprous man and die, or you can get up and go searching and let the dying take care of itself. The four lepers felt like they had nothing to live for. In town, the people were withering underneath the famine. Outside the gates, the Syrian army was poised to destroy the city. And let’s not forget their little problem of leprosy that made their lives miserable. What should they do?

Application

Well, they decided that since they had nothing to live for, then maybe they should go and find something worth dying for. So they went to give themselves over to the Syrian army, content to leave their fate in the enemy’s hands. But God had taken care of the Syrians and caused them to flee their camp, leaving in such a hurry that all of their possessions were still in their tents. Now I know that going on a mission trip is not leaving my fate in the hands of the enemy. I could not be more secure now in my home than I will be out there. But there is for me this realization that sitting here where I am, with the leprosy of life and a sinful nature eating away at me, I need to get up and go. Who knows what God will do during the few days I am gone. He may work miracles like the imaginary army He used to scare away the Syrians. I don’t know. All I do know is that I can’t sit here until I die. So I’m taking my leprosy and my uncertainty, and I’m joining the battle. To paraphrase Thoreau, I do not want to come to the end of life and discover that I had not lived.

Charge

As we seek Him today, don’t let the famine of the mundane and routine dull you to the life God wants you to live. Ask God to send you, and if you don’t want to go, ask Him to send you anyway.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words