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b'A big bowl of stew is a comforting food when you\\u2019re hungry on a cold day.\\nIt\\u2019s a great meal to share\\u2026unless you put poisonous ingredients in it! If\\nyou like strange stories, today\\u2019s reading is one of the strangest ones in\\nthe Bible. During a famine, a hungry guy finds gourds and throws them in a\\npot of stew at a meeting of prophets. Unfortunately, the gourds weren\\u2019t\\nsafe to eat, and the people panicked\\u2014eating this stew would kill them! But\\nElisha, God\\u2019s prophet and messenger, threw some flour in the pot, and just\\nlike that, the stew was safe to eat again. On the outside, this story could\\nbe seen as a dinner disaster and a warning about food safety. However,\\nthere\\u2019s more to it than that. This story reminds us that God brings life\\nout of death. He provided nourishment in a famine. When the food was\\ninedible, God, through Elisha, miraculously made it safe to eat so the\\nprophets could live. We can also see glimpses of the gospel\\u2014the good news\\nabout Jesus\\u2014in this story. The world is like the stew. God made everything\\ngood, but when humanity rejected God\\u2014choosing to disobey His one command by\\neating the fruit from the forbidden tree\\u2014our sin brought death into the\\nworld (Genesis 3). Ever since then, we continue to sin, and we search for\\nsatisfaction in things that look good, like the gourds, but in the end,\\nthese things lead to death. We try to save ourselves through our own\\nself-reliance and self-righteousness, but we can only find life in God. The\\ngood news is, God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to give us\\neternal life (John 3:16). Jesus calls Himself \\u201cthe bread of life\\u201d (John\\n6:35)\\u2014and bread is made with flour, which is what Elisha threw in the stew.\\nJesus willingly died so we could live with Him forever, and in His\\nresurrection, He defeated the power of sin and death. Jesus is alive, and\\nHe can bring healing and hope even in the parts of your life that seem the\\nmost poisoned by sin. Jesus\\u2019s life satisfies us and, like a good meal,\\nstrengthens us to follow God. Sharing Jesus\\u2019s life is a lot better than\\nsharing a bowl of poisoned stew! \\u2022 Abby Ciona \\u2022 Where have you seen the\\npoisoning effects of sin\\u2014either in the world or in your own life? \\u2022 Though\\nwe live in a world poisoned by sin, Jesus has promised to return and renew\\nHis creation. Until that day, He promises to be with us no matter what.\\nWhere do you need Jesus\\u2019s healing and renewal today? Consider taking a\\nmoment to talk to Him about this. \\u2022 If you want to dig deeper, read Exodus\\n15:22-27 and John 2:1-12. How are these accounts similar? Jesus told her,\\n\\u201cI am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live,\\neven after dying.\\u201d John 11:25 (NLT)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\n2Kgs.4.38-2Kgs.4.41|1Cor.15.20-1Cor.15.22|Eph.2.1-Eph.2.10|John.11.25'