“This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.”
(2 Kings 7:9)
The words above, spoken by Samarian lepers, have always resonated in my mind.  God had just done a phenomenal act on this earth. An Aramean army had cut off Samaria from the rest of the world and a great famine ensued.  People were starving, donkey’s heads were being sold at an outrageous price and all looked hopeless--so hopeless that four lepers with nothing left to lose decided to head over to the Aramean camp.  “If we stay here,” they thought, “ we will starve to death, but going over there we at least have a chance to live.”

They found a camp fully stocked with supplies, but void of man.  God, through His power, had caused the Arameans to flee, leaving everything behind.  The crushing sound of chariots and horses scared them off (God is great with sound effects).  As the lepers were enjoying the tremendous blessing they had come across, through no work of their own, it occurred to them that it was wrong not to share this with others.

Now, we sit in our campus groups singing praises to God.  We stand talking to others who enjoy the blessings that we have through Christ. And as we fall on our knees in prayer, we also must realize what the lepers realized.  It is wrong to not share this with others. The abundance they received was physical.  We have received so much more.  Our abundant heritage did not come from the sound of chariots and horses in the middle of the night.  No, ours came through a slow painful death on a spring morning years ago.

The question we need to ask ourselves is, “What are we going to do with this blessing we have found?”  Initially we will rejoice in it, enjoying the newfound treasure that we have.   I remember getting to devotionals and classes early (yes, as a college student) those first months after I became a Christian.  I couldn’t wait to leave my office and the classes I was taking and teaching to be with those that also had the joy I found.  But in the midst of all of that, I realized it was selfish to not share it with others. And so I took off with a group of students to establish a campus work, planting the news of God in the hearts of minds of others who did not know Him.

If you have seen the map identifying campus ministry locations, then you realize the need for students across this country to know of God’s love. In 2005 we are going to start changing that, starting with the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Students will be coming together from all across our county with a single purpose, to share what they have been given. Then who knows what will happen in 2006, or 2007 and beyond?

But none of it will happen unless we grasp what those lepers did so long ago.  Who we are and what we have been given?

A passion for planting new ministries or churches comes from an appreciation for what has been done for you.  We were all headed to hell, and rightly so because of our sins.  And then on that spring morning so many years ago, atonement was made.  A life was given.  It’s now our turn to give our lives so others may live.