DCLM Daily Manna 2023: DCLM Daily Manna 17 April 2023: Do More

DCLM Daily Manna 2023: DCLM Daily Manna 17 April 2023: Do More

Key Verse: “And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. 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 13:18-19)

TEXT: 2 Kings 4:18-37

¹⁴Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

¹⁵And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.

¹⁶And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands.

¹⁷And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord‘s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

¹⁸And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.

²¹And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here

Whenever there is work to do and the instructions allow enough room to manoeuver, most people will take the path of least resistance. Majority of people will not like to do more work when they are not specifically instructed to do so. Most will stay at the periphery, even when such an opportunity might open new doors of blessings. That is why only a few people would have passed the test that Elisha gave King Joash.

King Joash went to visit Elisha when he heard that the prophet was sick. Elisha must have known that the end was near and he took steps to enable the king to enjoy a continuous reign of victory over the Syrians. He told the king to shoot an arrow and he told him the import of the action. Elisha thereafter, directed the king to take the arrow and strike it on the ground. He did not tell him how many times he was to do this. Joash stopped after just three attempts. Elisha was unhappy that King Joash stopped with only three trials. He then told him the implications of what he just did. Joash would overcome the Syrians only three times instead of permanently.

The lessons from the self-imposed limitation of victory by Joash are clear for the Church today. We must do more for the glory of God whatever the assignment or responsibility that we might be given. Rebekah did more than was required of her and thereby secured her marriage to Isaac. Paul was willing to suffer and even die in the course of preaching the gospel.

God expects His children to reach out to sinners and tell them about His love. In doing this, we must be selfless and do more always. Today is one such day when you can practise this good principle of doing more in Kingdom service. Go for evangelism, visit young and old converts and sick people at home or in the hospital. Yes, do more to be a victorious Christian today and always.