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The Bones of Elisha

by Jerry Ousley  
10/11/2008 / Christian Living

I've always wondered what it would be like to see someone who has died raised back to life. It happened several times in the Bible. I've heard of instances where it has happened today but I've never witnessed such an event.

When my grandmother died I wished that she would come back to life. I remember walking past her casket with her body laying there. I remember thinking to myself, "I've got enough faith to command that she come back to life." Then I remembered that she was ninety-seven years old, and had lived a very good life for the Lord. I also remembered how much she longed for Heaven. She was there now. Then the thought occurred to me, "Son, if you were successful in bringing her back to life she'd beat you silly for doing it. She's where she has always wanted to be." I let the matter alone.

In 2 Kings 13:20-21, we read about an incident involving the bones of Elisha. He was a great prophet of God. The Lord had used him in many miraculous things. He had died and they had buried him.

Sometime later another man had died. In those days Israel had been plagued by raiding bands from the nation of Moab. As the man's friends were preparing to bury him they saw the raiding bands of Moab coming. In their haste to finish their job and hide from the Moabites they spied Elisha's tomb and thought, "We'll just put him in there for now and get out of here." So that's what they did. They put the dead man in the tomb of Elisha. But they got a surprise. When the dead man's bones touched the bones of Elisha he was instantly brought back to life! Imagine that! The Bible doesn't record what happened next but I'd say they went ahead and got out of there and their once dead buddy went with them.

There is a lesson in this for us. We may not go around raising the dead to life but as believers in Jesus Christ we do have that opportunity in a spiritual sense each and every day of our lives. Our number one job as Christians is to make more Christians. We are to be living our lives in such a way that people know who we are. They should see our love for other Christians which according to the Book of John and the words of Jesus, is the main witness and identification that we are believers. They should see our work ethics, our morals, and how we treat others and it should be a testimony without words for the Lord Jesus Christ.

When they do, eventually they will come to us and want to know how to get what we have. What an open door we then stand before. We haven't had to push the Gospel on them but they have come seeking the Good News of Jesus Christ. We can tell them what God has done for us and show them how they can receive salvation for themselves. It's a lot like touching the bones of Elisha. We have the opportunity to bring them back to life.

Oh, I know that they are walking around, breathing, eating, working and doing things only the living can do. But spiritually they are walking dead men. They need to be revived in a way that only the Holy Spirit of God can revive them. When we are being the witnesses for the Lord that we are supposed to be, we can't help but let it show. Our lives are a dead giveaway as to who we are. Elisha brought that man back to life without speaking a word. He couldn't He was dead himself! But the power of God was so strong in him that when the dead man's body touched him, it changed the dead man into a living man. Seek God, give yourself fully to Him and you'll find that as people touch your life they will start coming to life themselves!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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