BACK TO SCHOOL

       And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi? 2 Kings 5:25 (KJV)

 

It is so easy to take summer break and never get back in school.  I am speaking figuratively.  My mom was always saying before school ever let out for the summer that she could not wait until school was out.  By the first of July she was saying that she could not wait for school to start back.  Without school many of us would not have learned to read or write.  We would not have the math or science skills that we now possess.  We might not have the computer skills that we have and many other things that we gained by school whether it be public, private or home school.  I think it is true that we need a break but we also must realize there is a time to return to the class room.

Gehazi was in a position to learn from the best.  His master was Elisha who also had learned from the best.  Gehazi had sat at the feet of his teacher and had seen Elisha in action and had witnessed God working through Elisha in a mighty way.  I feel sure that Gehazi knew that God was real and that Elisha was a devout believer in Jehovah.  This seems to be a case where the servant/student of Elisha had taken a break from his devotion to his master and and by doing so he left the door open for Satan to take over.  No doubt this was true for Gehazi.  After being cleansed of his leprosy, Naaman offered Elisha gifts or payments for helping him.  When Elisha refused, Gehazi surrendered to his own selfish desires and followed Naaman and asked for the gifts.  He then lied to Elisha when asked where he had been.

Yes there are some of us who need to be going back to school: the school of prayer, the school of devotion, the school of dedication.  We tend to take breaks and unlike our children’s school system we do not need to take breaks.  When we do it takes longer and longer for us to come back and some do not come back.  Sometimes we take a break when we have gone through a hardship or tragedy.  We do not need to run from the church and the Lord in such a time, we need to run to the Lord!  Others seem to think they are suffering from burn out and need a break.  The problem is, if they come back at all, they never have the same fervor they once had.  It is sad to say but like Gehazi, if we take a break from Christ and his righteousness we may become scarred for life.  His reward for his break was leprosy on himself and his seed continually.

So let us not just send our children back to school but let us get back in God’s word and his will also.

 

Yours in Christ,

 

 

Randy Burtram

 

   (Originally published August 3, 2014)