READ: 2 Kings 6:34-8
THINK: Once upon a time, many moons ago, while I was a college student in Des Moines, Iowa, I decided that since I have a deep love for Mexican food I should go on a weekly “Mexican Adventure.” So I affixed a list of all the Mexican restaurants within 20 miles of Drake University to my dart board and started throwing a dart every Friday morning to determine where I’d have lunch that day. I anticipated a long and exciting year of visiting multiple places. But then something happened the 2nd week. The dart hit El Aguila Real. So I went there. And that was it for me. It was – and it still remains – the best Mexican restaurant I have ever had the pleasure of eating at. I should probably be ashamed to admit this, but during the summer of 2004 I ate at El Aguila Real every single day for 2 months. By the 2nd week I didn’t even have to order any more. They just brought me the #4 Combo – Beef Enchilada, Taco, & Chile Relleno with a Cherry Coke.
My first instinct was that I had stumbled upon something special. It was my place. I knew about it and not everyone else did. And I kind of felt special. I honestly had a thought cross my mind that I didn’t want anybody else to know about my spot. I thought about keeping it to myself. But then I was struck by the fact that I had stumbled upon cilantro and goat-cheese infused gold. How could I possibly keep that to myself? So I told everybody about it. I passionately described it’s brilliance. I invited them all to come with me. And, as all of my buddies returned to Des Moines for school in August there were about 10 of them who went with me to El Aguila Real. And, not including breakfasts, we all ate our next 8 consecutive meals there. And many more after that!
In 2 Kings 7 we read the story of 4 starving lepers who made the decision that it would be better to surrender the Syrian army and take their chances than remain under siege and starve. So, they went out to the Syrian camp and, much to their surprise, found it completely abandoned and full of food. Their first instinct was to keep all of it for themselves and maximize their personal gain. Then they remembered the pain of all the starving people and realize that keeping it to themselves simply wasn’t right. The incredible, outrageous nature of the news meant that they absolutely had to share it with everyone. They couldn’t do anything else because everyone needed to know!
Do you feel that same way about Jesus? Make an honest attempt to answer that question. Do you? Sometimes our familiarity with the gospel can leave us in a place where we forget how unbelievable the message is. The God of the universe came down and gave his life for us so that we could be forgiven and restored to right relationship with him. Please don’t ever forget: THAT. IS. CRAZY. It is the single greatest message that the world has ever known. By a wide margin! So the question for us is this: what will we do about it? Will we keep it to ourselves? Or will we do what is right and share it passionately and excitedly with every person that we meet – like we would if we discovered a great new restaurant?
PRAY: Confess that you have been more willing to excitedly share restaurants, status updates, and Pinterest ideas with those in your relational network than you have Jesus. Ask God to light your soul on fire for him and give you the boldness to share him passionately with others.
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