The Third Captain's Heart of Shepherd

[S] 2 Kings 1:13-15 --

¹³So he again sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. When the third captain of fifty went up, he came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah, and begged him and said to him, "O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.

¹⁴"Behold fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty with their fifties; but now let my life be precious in your sight."

¹⁵The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So he arose and went down with him to the king.

[O] This was the third captain of 50 soldiers to approach Elijah to invite him to King Ahaziah. I give a lot of credit to this captain and the fifty soldiers because they clearly knew what had happened to the previous two sets of soldiers sent before them -- fire from heaven consumed them up -- and yet they went to Elijah anyways and begged Elijah to consider their lives precious. I see the combination of boldness, courage along with humbleness. Knowing when to be bold and when to be humble is deadly effective in living a wise life. I also gleaned from this passage the insight of how the preciousness of life is the lifeblood of any ministry, especially a small group ministry. Additionally, the shepherding heart of this captain shined through because he was most interested in saving the precious lives (including his own). In our small group ministry we need to approach with the likemindedness of requesting (to the point of begging) God to consider each of our lives as precious and show His mercy showering us with His grace.

[A] As we lay the structure of our small group ministry, keep the "preciousness of each lives" at the center and not lose focus in the midst of the organizations or infrastructural busy-ness.

[P] Thank You, God, for considering me precious in Your eyes through the cross that Jesus Christ bore for me. May I be reminded of this fact and live my life with humility and submission to You as I approach the small group ministry at church. Please let me not forget how You consider each member to be so precious. May I also approach with the shepherd's heart like this third captain of the fifty soldiers. In Jesus' name. Amen.