Be Christlike

2nd Kings 3

The coolest thing is when someone you may no know but they have heard of you and what they have heard of you is good. It is not cool when someone that you do not know knows you but only the bad things. One of the most important things that we need to have as young believers is integrity. Integrity is being able to be the same in public and in private; being a godly example in both worlds. I know we mess it up but it is being able to say, I am not pursuing sin in private and acting godly in public. It is true in both places. 

In this chapter we see what happens with Israel as Jehoram the son of Ahab and Jehoshaphat king Judah do as Moab comes against them. 

A Short Treaty is Made

Remember the kingdom is split. Israel of the north and Judah of the south, come together because Moab decided to rebel against Israel. Jehoram decides to go to war against Moab but instead of going by himself he asks the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, to go with him and also the king of Edom. This was a serious battle and they had to travel pretty far to get to Moab. On the seventh day as they traveled they were without water and the animals and men began becoming faint. They thought they were about to die because of the lack of water, but Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there a prophet of God that could help?” 

The prophet that came was Elisha and he was only going to speak truth.

Integrity 

So the king of Israel who did evil in the sight of the Lord asked for help and Elisha was like, “Why should I help you?” But then Elisha saw that the king of Judah was there and he said, “Since you are here, I will help.” The reason was because Jehoshaphat was a king that desired the Lord. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord (1st Kings 22:43). Because of him Elisha decided to help. The Lord was going to bring water for the troops and the animals to drink and Moab would think they were going to die. 

God did as he said he would and you know what is cool? He brought water out of dry ground and this was a light thing for the Lord. God is so awesome that he could bring water to a dry stream-bed without rain. This was easy, God is in control of nature and life. We serve an awesome God.

Are you a Wolf in Sheep Clothing?

We need to be young people of integrity! I know I am guilty abusing this and I know I need to constantly ask the Lord to forgive me and to give me strength. We need to realize that if we do not have integrity and we act one way in front of certain people and another way with others we are being a wolf in sheep clothing by being a bad example of Christ. In fact, we are leading people away from the Gospel of TRUTH and LIFE. 1st Timothy 4:12 tells us, “Do not let others despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” How true are these words for today? We need to be an example in all of those areas. May we desire to be such an example people that we do not even know may know that we are Christians by our light.