Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly. A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health. | ||
| Proverbs 13:16-17 | ||
| We are messengers, for Jesus has entrusted us with the message of the Gospel, the good news of salvation (Mark 16:15). In 2 Kings 5, we read of a Syrian man of power and importance named Naaman who was plagued with leprosy. He heard about a man of God named Elisha and came to meet him. Elisha, however, sent his servant, Gehazi, saying, “Go tell Naaman to dip seven times in the Jordan and he’ll be healed.” Upon hearing this, Naaman was angry. “Elisha didn’t even come to meet me,” he fumed. “And now he’s telling me to dip in this muddy river? I’m not interested.” “Wait a minute,” his servants said. “What do you have to lose?” Naaman took their advice, and when he came out of the river, his leprosy was gone. He immediately went to meet with Elisha, saying, “Let me give you silver and fine clothes. Let me reward you for what you’ve done for me.” Elisha, however, refused Naaman’s offer, and Naaman headed back to Syria. But Gehazi caught up with him and told him that Elisha had a change of mind, that he would accept some silver and fine clothes to give to his students. He took Naaman’s silver and clothes, intending to keep them for himself. Upon his return, however, not only was Gehazi confronted by Elisha, who knew what he had done, but he was struck with leprosy as well. “Freely ye have received, freely give,” Jesus said (Matthew 10:8). It’s the wicked messenger who, like Gehazi, manipulates the message for his own selfish gain. This applies to every one of us. When we share and witness is it simply because of our love for Jesus? Or is it because we want something out of it - a testimony to share Sunday night, a notch to place in our Bible, a proof of our own spirituality? All kinds of subtle things can creep into our hearts oh, so easily. And we can become wicked messengers ourselves. As you share the Gospel, make sure you’re doing it as a faithful messenger, a faithful ambassador, because of the work God has done in your own life. “It’s the love of Christ that constrains me,” Paul said (see 2 Corinthians 5:14). In other words, “Jesus loves me so much, has shown such grace and kindness to me, has done so much for me that I can do nothing but tell others about Him.” We have a message, gang: “Jesus loves you. Your sins are forgiven.” And we must share it faithfully. Pastor Jon Courson | ||
