A big bowl of stew is a comforting food when you’re hungry on a cold day. It’s a great meal to share…unless you put poisonous ingredients in it! If you like strange stories, today’s reading is one of the strangest ones in the Bible. During a famine, a hungry guy finds gourds and throws them in a pot of stew at a meeting of prophets. Unfortunately, the gourds weren’t safe to eat, and the people panicked—eating this stew would kill them! But Elisha, God’s prophet and messenger, threw some flour in the pot, and just like that, the stew was safe to eat again.

On the outside, this story could be seen as a dinner disaster and a warning about food safety. However, there’s more to it than that. This story reminds us that God brings life out of death. He provided nourishment in a famine. When the food was inedible, God, through Elisha, miraculously made it safe to eat so the prophets could live.

We can also see glimpses of the gospel—the good news about Jesus—in this story. The world is like the stew. God made everything good, but when humanity rejected God—choosing to disobey His one command by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree—our sin brought death into the world (Genesis 3). Ever since then, we continue to sin, and we search for satisfaction in things that look good, like the gourds, but in the end, these things lead to death. We try to save ourselves through our own self-reliance and self-righteousness, but we can only find life in God.

The good news is, God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to give us eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus calls Himself “the bread of life” (John 6:35)—and bread is made with flour, which is what Elisha threw in the stew. Jesus willingly died so we could live with Him forever, and in His resurrection, He defeated the power of sin and death. Jesus is alive, and He can bring healing and hope even in the parts of your life that seem the most poisoned by sin.

Jesus’s life satisfies us and, like a good meal, strengthens us to follow God. Sharing Jesus’s life is a lot better than sharing a bowl of poisoned stew! • Abby Ciona

• Where have you seen the poisoning effects of sin—either in the world or in your own life?

• Though we live in a world poisoned by sin, Jesus has promised to return and renew His creation. Until that day, He promises to be with us no matter what. Where do you need Jesus’s healing and renewal today? Consider taking a moment to talk to Him about this.

• If you want to dig deeper, read Exodus 15:22-27 and John 2:1-12. How are these accounts similar?

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” John 11:25 (NLT)