Daily EncouragementSample

So spoke the well-to-do Shunammite woman who gave hospitality to Elisha and subsequently provided him with a room for his use whenever he called. How did she know him to be “a holy man of God”? Possibly this knowledge was based solely on her own intuition - and the intuition of a godly woman is not to be despised.

She must have been struck by his godliness, because to be holy is to be set apart for God. Not set apart like a monk in a monastery, but living among people in a manner which makes thoughts of God and holiness and heaven almost natural and conversation about them free and unforced.

She must have been impressed by his sheer goodness, because to be holy is to be like God. And the Lord is good. False gods are seen to be false just because they are not good, and their “holy” men are like them. To be like the One “who committed no sin” is to be “a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false” (1 Pet. 2:22; John 1:47).

She must have been touched by his kindness, which he showed to her as he did to many others. “Holiness,” said Henry Drummond, “is an infinite compassion for others.”