A ZEST FOR THE LORD

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.

In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.

As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Jehoash rested with his fathers, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. "My father! My father!" he cried. "The chariots and horsemen of Israel!"

Elisha said, "Get a bow and some arrows," and he did so. "Take the bow in your hands," he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king's hands.

"Open the east window," he said, and he opened it.

"Shoot!" Elisha said, and he shot. "The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!" Elisha declared. "You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek."

Then he said, "Take the arrows," and the king took them. Elisha told him, "Strike the ground."

He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."

2 Kings 13:10-19

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

After the 17 year reign of Jehoahaz in Israel, his son Johoash assumed power “in the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah”. Unfortunately, Jehoash chose to follow in his father’s footsteps and “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, not turning “away from any of the sins of Jeroboam” during his 16 year reign. Instead, Jehoash “continued in them”.

In our passage today, we find where “Elisha was suffering from…illness…an illness that would prove to be fatal. As word concerning Elisha’s affliction got to Jehoash, he “went down to see (Elisha) and wept over him” saying, "My father! My father!…The chariots and horsemen of Israel!"

Sensing Jehoash’s panic at his passing, Elisha told the king to “Get a bow and some arrows" and "Take the bow in your hands." When Jehoash had done as Elisha had ordered, Elisha “put his hands on the king's hands”, essentially blessing what the king was about to do.

Elisha then told the king to "Open the east window" before telling him to "Shoot!" And Jehoash did just that, shooting the arrow out the east window and leading Elisha to proclaim, “The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!…You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek."

What a blessed proclamation! For the Arameans were still a thorn in the side of Israel, even after God had delivered them from the hands of Hazael. Now…Jehoash knew that victory was certain over Aram and all because of the Lord’s blessing passed onto him by the ailing prophet, Elisha.

I don’t know about you but those events would have gotten me very excited and on fire for how good God is. I mean…when God blesses us…and He does so very often…shouldn’t we want to tell everyone about Him and how good He is! One should be on fire for the One who has sent His holy fire upon us through His Holy Spirit.

Question: How on fire are you for the Lord…the One who blesses you?

Well, back to the scriptures.

For after Jehoash has received a word of blessing from Elisha, he next is told by the prophet to "Take the arrows” and "Strike the ground."

Now, one with a fervor and zest for the Lord would have struck the ground over and over and over. But Jehoash didn’t do that. Instead, he struck the ground “three times and stopped”…a display that angered Elisha and led him to tell Jehoash, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."

Limited zest for the Lord resulted in limited results.

Such will be the same for any of us if we choose to use what we’ve been blessed with minimally. If God has blessed you with money and you use it sparingly to His glory, then you can expect He will begin to limit how much He blesses you with in the future. If God blessed you with gifts such as leading or writing or singing or teaching…and you choose to use those gifts sparingly for His glory, then the Lord can recall His blessings and you can find your once blessed talents in decline.

Truly, the Lord givest and the Lord can taketh away.

After all, He is God.

So…where are you today? Are you using the blessings God has given you to His glory…and in accordance with His will?

If so, then you can bet that the Lord is smiling upon you and saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant. With you, I am well pleased.”

If not…well I would rather not know what God is thinking. It certainly can’t be good.

Let’s not even go there…OK? Let’s all have an unquenchable, unstoppable zest for the Lord…every second of every minute of every hour of every day.

He deserves nothing less.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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

Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com