2 KINGS 7:6-9 – 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.” 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. 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. 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.”

THEME OF THE DAY. WE CANNOT KEEP IT TO OURSELVES. There are powerful spiritual lessons for us in today’s scripture but first observe the physical aspects of the Lord’s work. It is exciting. We read of His sovereign ordering of things for the good of His people; His control over His enemies; and the provision for four lepers that extended beyond just them. To get a really good grasp on what is happening in all these works of God, please go back and read the opening five verses. These lepers were desperate and God came through for them, but let’s move into the spiritual applications for us as we unfold it from the leper’s standpoint.

First, the lepers came into the camp of the Syrians and found rich treasure – food, gold, silver, tents, horses, donkeys, and clothes. They hit the jackpot of provisions! Their initial thought was to keep everything to themselves. We read – 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. It was all about them but then they started talking among themselves. Guilt settles in for being so self-centered – Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment overtakes us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.”

Friend, what is greater news than the good news these lepers discovered? It is the Gospel. It is the true riches in life and eternity. And what did these lepers do with the temporary good news? They couldn’t keep it to themselves. They couldn’t keep silent. Well, the spiritual lesson becomes obvious, doesn’t it? Are we silent about the greatest news a person may ever hear? Are we keeping the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, the only hope in our dying world, to ourselves? Think long and hard on those questions. Every Christian, introvert or extrovert, is responsible and privileged to share the Gospel. How are we doing? If not very good, may the Lord bring the same conviction upon us as He did the lepers who initially were silent about their good news. The world needs Gospel-sharing Christians. That is to be us. The Lord Jesus told us to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest that He would send laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2-3). Let’s commit to doing so and be the answer to our praying – laborers in His harvest. The greatest news cannot be kept to ourselves.

PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I forget my responsibility and privilege to share You, Your Word, and Son with others.”

QUOTE: “God doesn’t give us rich blessings to hoard, but to share. We freely receive in order to freely give.”