Do not attempt to loose the opportunities

KEY VERSE: “And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice” (2 Kings 13:19).

Horace Mann, in describing the irretrievable nature of time wrote: “Lost… somewhere between sunrise and sunset, sixty golden minutes. Each set with sixty diamond seconds. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever.”

Such can be said about certain opportunities – when lost, they are gone forever. It becomes very disturbing when such opportunities have great and long lasting implications.

Joash the king of Israel lost such an opportunity. He had the rare privilege of receiving the dying counsel and blessing of Prophet Elisha, whom God used so mightily that his dead bones were instrumental in raising the dead (verse 20), but made not full use of it.

Elisha’s instruction to the king was symbolic of deliverance of Israel from Syria, their arch oppressor. But the significance of this demonstration was lost on Joash who struck with bow and arrow only three times. He belittled the exercise.

The man of God was unhappy with Joash for he knew that if the king had
sustained the action until five or six times – or until Elisha ordered a stop – it would have meant a permanent deliverance for Israel. But he was told by the man of God that “whereas nowthou shalt smite Syria but thrice”.

True to this prediction, Syria was beaten by Israel only three times during which times Israel recovered the cities earlier taken from them by Syria.

Often, God presents us with opportunities to demonstrate our faith in Him knowing that without His favour and support we can achieve nothing worthwhile. But many do not take such things serious.

Those who hold sacred things with levity and belittle the counsel of true men of God do so to their own detriment. Half measured commitment to God is not enough to secure His full blessing.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Limited actions of faith spell limited victory.