LOST AND FOUND

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live."

And he said, "Go."

Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?"

"I will," Elisha replied. And he went with them.

They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"

The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?"

When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.

"Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.


2 Kings 6:1-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever lost something of great value?

I know I have.

And after something you value is lost, it can be maddening as you seek to find it.

Sometimes you’re fortunate to get it back. Sometimes you’re not.

But when you do find something that was once lost, how do you respond? Do you seek help from the One who can enable you to find it?

Point in case can be found in our scripture today.

For as Chapter 6 of 2 Kings opens we find “the company of the prophets” speaking to Elisha about a problem.

The issue involved the place where the elders would meet with Elisha. It was too small and the elders proposed that a new meeting place be constructed by the Jordan River. We read where Elisha gave his approval and went with them as they went to begin building.

So the elders and Elisha “went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees” and scripture tells us that as one of the elders was chopping, the iron axhead he was using “fell into the water”. This caused him some distress, indicated by his words as he cried out to Elisha, “Oh, my lord…it was borrowed!"

You see, tools were extremely valuable and not easy to come by in biblical times. You couldn’t just run to the hardware store and by a new one. And what made this loss even more problematic was that the iron axehead was borrowed. This made the borrower responsible for its return. If the item was lost, then the one losing the item was responsible for compensating its owner by paying for it. And if they didn’t have the money to pay, then they would be required to work as a laborer until the full debt was paid. This is why the man who lost the axehead in the water was so distressed.

Sometimes losing things causes us distress as well.

Consider those who lose a wedding ring. It’s not like you have a spare around and even if you did, it wouldn’t hold the special significance of that ring that was placed on your hand by your spouse on wedding day.

Or how about when you lose someone you love. People every day are facing divorce as relationships that once had so much love suddenly find it missing. Couples struggle to find the magic that once existed. Many never do and some never find love again.

And how distressed are we as Christians that so many are lost in our world and without hope because they haven’t turned to their Savior Jesus Christ…the One who is the Way and the Truth and the Life…the only One through which we find our way to our Father…His Father…in heaven. Shouldn’t we all be terribly concerned about the lost that need found…the blind who can’t see?

The question is…what are we doing about it?

For as fervently as we search for a wedding ring…as hard as we try to rediscover love that may have gone missing…we should be even more so seeking, finding and helping those lost souls that are in need of Christ…and doing so with urgency.

For when we do, miraculous things start to happen. The lost become found…and the blind begin to see.

Back to the scriptures…for as the man who lost the axehead in the Jordan asks Elisha to help, we find Elisha…the “man of God”…”cut a stick” and throw it in the area where the axehead sunk. And miraculously, the axehead rose to the surface and floated so the man could reach in the water and retrieve it.

Friends…what do you or someone you love or someone you know have that is lost today?

As you pray about whatever is lost, do so with the faith, trust and assurance that as easily as the Lord miraculously made the axehead float…allowing what was lost to be found…so too can He resurrect anything else in life.

Is that not good news for us all?

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com