Irvin Wasswa
Tylertown Campus Pastor
2 Kings 7:3-9
3 Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we 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.” 5 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. 6 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” 7 So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. 8 And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them. 9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.”
When I was in college, a couple of my roommates went to the food court on campus to grab some food. I was very hungry so I decided to stay back in the dorm. After a while they came back and each of them had FIVE Chick-fil-a sandwiches with them. I knew them well and understood they were just as broke as I was and couldn’t afford all those sandwiches so I asked how they were able to each buy them all. They mentioned how the person working the front that evening was doing a “buy 1, get 4 free” deal and how he hooked them up to all those sandwiches. My response to them was to ask why they didn’t choose to call me! How could they not let me know about the greatest deal of all time? They were faintly apologetic and I found myself sandwich-less and sad.
I remember thinking-how could my friends not share this great news about the chick-fil-a deal with me? My thinking was that they were selfish. I tell you what though, I am so glad no one was too selfish to share the GREATEST NEWS ever, that Jesus Christ came and died for me so that I could live! We see here in 2 Kings 7 how there were four lepers who decided to not HOARD the good news, but rather be HERALDS of the news to others. How often when it comes to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ we are more hoarders of the news? Whether it is out of fear, or a sense of complacency, it is so easy to fall victim to being a hoarder of the news. It’s been said that the news of the gospel came to us because it was going to someone else. We are called to share this good news with the many around us who do not know. Who around you needs to hear this good news in the days ahead? Choose today to be a HERALD of the Gospel, not a HOARDER.