Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours abundantly from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am delighted to welcome you to the transition week between the months of April and May 2024. My prayer is that, as we begin the week, God will rid you of all forms of selfishness that are hindering Him from finding you useful in communicating His goodness to those in your world. Amen.
I offer that prayer for you because one of the reasons God is unable to use many of His people, who are daily enjoying His goodness, to reach others around then with His grace is that they are selfish. When people are selfish, they will easily forget that the grace of God that they are enjoying is beyond what one person can consume. In fact, the grace of God is beyond what the whole world can consume. His grace is immeasurable.
So, talking to those around us about God’s grace and goodness will not limit our own enjoyment of it. Rather, it will open the door for us to enjoy more and more of it. But many of us often get carried away in our enjoyment of His grace and goodness that we forget that there are many around us that also need the experience of His grace and goodness, so that they can be set free from the things seeking to destroy them and begin to live lives that make sense. And if we don’t wake up on time and begin to do what is right, things may get worse for them and we too may end up losing our relevance in the world in which God wants us to function as light and salt.
Now we have a very good example in the bible of how God wants us to treat our enjoyment of His grace and goodness. This is in 2Kings 6 and 7. As the account goes, there had been a very severe famine in the city of Samaria that drove some people to start eating their own children. And it was when the king learnt about this that he remembered that Elisha, the man of God, was in the land and that his presence should have made a difference.
In any case, Elisha prophesied that there would be a sudden miracle of abundance in the land that would make all of them forget all their pains before the end of the following day. And it happened just as he had said it would. How? Well, God frightened their enemies that were responsible for the famine with the sound of a great and invisible army. So, they ran away and abandoned everything they had brought with them to lay siege to the city.
But nobody in the city knew what had happened except certain four lepers that took the risk of their lives to go the camp of the enemies to look for food that same night. They were the first to suddenly come upon abundant free food, clothes, silver, gold and other precious things, which the enemies had left behind when they were running away for their lives. So, they settled down that night to take for themselves as many good things as they could. And that same night, even though they were lepers, they became rich.
However, while they were jumping around from one tent of the enemies to the other and carrying whatever they wanted, it dawned on them that they were being selfish. Yes, it dawned on them that the good things that were available in the camp of the enemies were too much for only the four of them to consume – they were things that everyone in the land ought to share and enjoy. So, they said these words to one another: “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.” (2Kings 7:9NIV)
Now, of course, when they reported what had happened to the king, the whole city came out to carry all kinds of good things for themselves. And everyone suddenly forgot all the pains they experienced during the famine, according to the word of the man of God. But what if those lepers had not woken up on time to do what was right? Then God would have led someone else there who would report what had happened to the king. And what do you think he would have done to them for being selfish? He would most likely have ordered their execution.
Well, the point I am making is that we should not keep the good news of the grace of God that we are enjoying away from those around us. Instead, we should do our best to share it with them. Otherwise, as I said before, we may just begin to limit our experience of His goodness and He too may have to raise some other people to do what we should have done. Then the praise and reward that should have been ours will go to them. So, begin to freely share the good news of what God’s goodness to you to those around you. And may you daily be strengthened by the Spirit of God to faithfully do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great week.
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2 replies on “Don’t keep it away from them | By: J.O. Lawal | Date: April 28, 2024 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 12, No. 52”
We should share the goodness of God we are enjoying in our life, we shouldn’t be selfish about it. Thanks so much sir
Yes, thanks for this sir, we should not be selfish to tell other people about what God is doing in our life.