Death in the Pot

2 Kings 4:39

“Then one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, for they did not know what they were.”

We have all, from time to time, had to prepare a meal for someone.  And those someone’s have graded that meal right before our eyes. I can remember when my daughters served me and my wife burnt toast and other things as a surprise for breakfast. The effort was great but the meal needed some major tweaking.

Verse 39 is a crazy verse because one can take it literally and spiritually.  The Bible says that there was a famine in the land. Taking this into consideration, you would think all the edible things had been gathered already and whatever was left over was not good to eat like the gourds this cook found. (vs. 39: he picked as many gourds as his garment could hold.) Literally speaking, the poor lad prepared the stew for the prophets and did not know what a gourd was and most likely did not do “the meal preparation thing” very often.   A little of this and and little of that, man it has to taste good, right?  What is even more crazy is the one preparing the meal did not even check the stew before they served it.  A couple of verses later the people eating said that there is “death in the pot”! (vs 40). The stew must have tasted awful.  Elisha performed another Bobby Flay miracle and fixed the stew and everyone was satisfied.   

Spiritually speaking, we are always preparing our minds to digest every thought and nugget of guidance in our lives.  I can tell you from experience that sometimes we just make the spiritual soup without even tasting it and then proceed to serve the up the mess.  It is only then that we realize we have served up some good old “death in the pot” to our beloved friends and family around us.  As followers of Christ, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us on our way spiritually.  If we do not listen to His guidance and instruction, often times we don’t know the mess we have created until we have served it to the ones around us. Then they don’t hold back about the “death in the pot” that we have just served them. 

Isaiah 26:3 says ” You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”  Being steadfast means that you seek the counsel of godly people and stay connected to the Lord through worship, prayer, and reading the Bible.  Today, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the “death in the pot” in your life and ask him to help you cleanse yourself of it.  The son’s of the prophets proceeded to eat the stew after Elisha Bobby Flay’ed it.  God can make your “death in the pot” into something that satisfies everyone but you have to give it to the Lord. Watch Him Bobby Flay your life to a point were everyone is satisfied and filled when they are around you. 

Prayer: Father, we all get caught up in this world and taking it’s wisdom instead of your wisdom. Help us today by clearing out all the world’s motives, wants and desires and help us replace them with your spiritual fruit found in Galatians 5:22-23. Help us to see with spiritual eyes and hear with spiritual ears and have the mind of Christ. I rebuke and cast away any thought that I have against you Lord and I ask that you fill my head with your thoughts. I ask that the Holy Spirit will quicken my mind and that I will heed His guidance. In Jesus name, amen.