Are You Serious

6.27.2011

2 Kings 13:18-19 18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.” NIV

To me, in this story, we have a classic misunderstanding – the king wasn’t hearing what the prophet was saying and the prophet thought the king did. It wasn’t that it was miscommunication – the king did exactly as the prophet commanded – it was just that the king (Jehoash) didn’t recognize the opportunity that was given to him.

Isn’t that the way we are sometimes? I don’t mean necessarily you and me, but I mean ‘we’ kind of in the general sense; we people. Someone asks us to do something and it isn’t exactly what we want to do so we do it half-heartedly so we can say, yes, I did do it! But it really wasn’t our idea so we didn’t really do it with passion and respect because, well, it wasn’t our idea… That was the king before this old and dying prophet: “Are you serious!? Do you expect me to pound the ground with these arrows until they’re splinters!? What will my advisers think watching me pound the ground with these arrows!?” Meanwhile the prophet (Elisha) is watching and is asking, “Are you serious!? Three taps on the ground is all I get!? Do you really want to defeat your enemies or not!? Or do you just want to look ‘presidential’!?”

The question for us then is will we do what God asks us to do? Will we do it with urgency, passion, and respect; or will we just check a box so that we can say, “Yes, I did do it!” The next question is are we even doing what God asks us to do? And are we doing it with urgency, passion, and respect? Are we living in love or are we just going through the motions? Sometimes, I really have to wonder where my own heart really is… do I want to succeed in life or just coast by?

Father in Heaven,
You know my heart and my propensity to skate by on as little effort as possible. I pray for a handful of arrows that before You I may beat them to smithereens. I pray that my passion for Your Kingdom be fueled by Your presence and engulfed by Your zeal for all that is right and good. Help me this day – in Jesus’ Name, amen.