Here I Am. Send Me.

They did not require an accounting from those to whom they gave the money . . . because they acted with complete honesty (2 Kings 12:15).

I don’t know how many times I’ve read right past this verse as it if were merely part of the landscape. But this time in my journey through 2 Kings the significance of this extraordinary testimony captured my attention.

"Because they acted with complete honesty" pulsates with hope in the midst of chapters 9 through 14 that describe deception, decadence, immorality and desolation. That phrase offers light in a quagmire of darkness, harmony in the midst of discordant cacophony. Apparently, there was still a remnant of God’s people who chose to maintain their integrity and obey God at all costs, even while so many in their culture had turned to follow their own way.

Flash forward to today. What has changed? Deception, dishonesty and immorality stain the fabric of our society. Government, the media, entertainment . . . we can’t scan the news and not find a plethora of voices in our culture who insist that what was once considered darkness is really light, and what was once considered light is really darkness. Even within the church, dishonesty, hypocrisy, sexual perversions and intrigue hit the front pages with all-too frequent regularity. It is no wonder that so many ask why they should walk straight while multitudes zigzag. And it is fair to ask where is the one who lives to serve God in Spirit and truth?

Where, indeed.

The longer I serve Christ the more convinced I become that at the Great Judgment God will not ask me how well my society, or even my Church community lived. He will instead ask how I lived. Did I decide to follow Jesus? Though none went with me, did I still follow Him, wherever He led and whatever it cost? God has always looked for a chaste remnant in the midst of perversion and disobedience. He has always sought those who yearn to be lights in the lengthening shadows, men and women who stand with truth in opposition to those who stand with falsehood.

He has always looked for those who will respond daily to His call and say: “Here I am. Send me.”

Oh, Lord. Help us follow you, despite the cost.