Elisha, as always it seems, sends someone else to do the
work. (I am not picking at Elisha, just
pointing out a pattern.) Elisha, unlike his mentor, Elijah, worked with other
prophets, seems to have had a company of prophets, he wasn't going to flame out
like Elijah for want of support. The
time has come for the Lord to execute judgment on the house of Ahab now the
king was dead. He had promised to
destroy his entire household, leaving no men of this line. The man is sent to Ramoth-gilead to Jehu, the
commander of the army, to anoint him as king and also to be the agent of the
Lord's judgment. The prophet takes Jehu
into an inner chamber and does the anointing privately in accord with Elisha's
instruction. When Jehu returns and the
others ask what this fellow wanted his answer is "You know how he
is." They press him for the word
given, perhaps it is a strategic word for them but instead he admits that he
was just anointed as king and, surprisingly, these men all acclaim him and
confirm the word. With boldness and
alacrity, they move to carry out the Lord's will.
Why does Jesus continually urge us to keep a low profile for
our good works? In our public
relations-driven world, as in His own day, the advice would be to give as
publicly as possible, get your name on something in order to encourage others
to give as well. We are called to give
unto the Lord, and allow Him to do as He wills with our obedience. Our good works are not done for credit and
they do us no good in the long run so far as God's judgment is concerned. We, like the servant in Jesus' parable, must
only confess that we are unworthy servants simply doing what we are told to do
as opposed to taking the initiative and doing more. Obedience is to be its own reward. The same is true of the prophetic messenger
in our first lesson, he is to flee when his work is done lest he be rewarded
for it.
One thing we have to know is why were we created? In real estate appraisals we often see the
appraiser dealing with the issue of what is the "highest and best
use" of a piece of property. In
other words, does the proposed use of the property to be developed maximize its
value? Once the highest and best use is
determined the valuation can be made on the property independent of what an
owner proposes to do with the property, does his or her proposal enhance the
value or detract from it. Paul says we
have to know the highest and best use of our lives, including our bodies, and
once we are clear the answer to that is to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever as
the Westminster Catechism says, we can get about the business of doing that and
not doing those things that detract from it like sexual immorality. Obedience to His commands will yield the
greatest return on His investment in our lives.
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