What makes a great woman great?  Someone who loves basketball might say, “A great woman is one who can run with the ball and not double dribble!  A fisherman might answer, “A great woman is one who has her own tackle box.”  A child might unashamedly profess, “A great woman is somebody like my Mom.”

  Who’s right?  What really makes a woman great?  In the Bible, great women of God played leading roles in God’s drama of redemption.  The story of one such woman is found in 2 Kings 4.  “And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman (v. 8a).”

  Several characteristics manifest this woman’s greatness.  First notice, this Shunammite  woman was hospitable.  Verse 8 says, “…she constrained him to eat bread.  And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.”  In our day of hurry, we need to be reminded of the importance of simple hospitality.  My grandmother was to hospitality what Arnold Palmer is to golf.  The visiting preacher, the milk man, the vacuum cleaner salesman, and anyone else who came to her house would leave pleasantly full, smiling, and assured of a new found friendship.  They had also heard of the love of Christ and His power to save.

  Secondly, we see that the Shunammite woman had a keen spiritual perception.  Verse 9 says, “And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.”   O that women of this century would take time to know God and His ways.

  Later, this woman lost her only son to an unexpected illness, but she refused to relinquish her faith in the God of Elijah.  Verses 18-37 tell how her faith resulted in her son being raised from the dead!

  Think of it ladies, because of her sincere hospitality, spiritual perception, and faith in God, this woman’s story is indelibly published in Holy Writ.  Perhaps you would aspire to be the next great woman of God.

  This is the essence of Moses’ final warning to Israel after he had led them out of captivity, delivered them to God at Mount Sinai and given them the laws of God. He said, “And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. (Deuteronomy 8:19).”

  Though America is not Israel, our nation was founded upon the same principles that were delivered to our forefathers by the God of Moses. We are becoming a nation that has forgotten God; and like Israel of old, without knowledge of God and faith in His promises, we will surely perish. Certainly God would have us heed Moses’ warning today.

  How have we forgotten God? I invite you to step outside next Sunday morning and listen. You will not likely hear the stillness of God’s prescribed “day of rest,” but the roar of lawn mowers and other machinery used by an increasing number of neighbors who view God as a mental or emotional crutch for the weak at heart. Take a look around at the businesses that are open for “business as usual” on the Lord’s Day. People flock to the retail stores dressed in their daily duds to celebrate the first day of a new week without God.

  Even those who call themselves Christians are obviously becoming more contented with less of God. Churches have become the meeting places of people with itching ears, desiring only a pep talk to pacify their spiritual hunger and entertain their flesh. As God predicted, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2Timothy 4:3-4).”
We contend with those who would alter our pledge, “One nation under God.” But contrary to our criticisms, our lifestyles argue for the words “One nation without God.”

  It never ceases to amaze me at how quickly a nation can become so foolish about some of the most important issues of life.  Let me say first that I understand that in some circles, women are treated like dirt by selfish, lustful, greedy men.  Though some are not altogether innocent, considering their dress, mannerisms and ambitions, I am adamantly opposed to the disrespect that many women endure.

  Like so many issues, our culture deals with social ills by going to the opposite extreme in hope of reparation.  On this particular topic, those who deplore the error of both extremes are viewed as either womanizers or misogynists, depending on who is talking.

  Truth is that women were never intended by God to be men or to act like men.  God made us male and female and gave us the temperament, emotional perspective, physique, anatomy, etc. to fulfill our roles.  

  Common sense agrees with the Bible: What father or mother would want his/her daughter to be drafted into the armed services and ushered to the front line to fight some burly man trained in the art of hand to hand combat?  What kind of man would have his daughter work with a crew of ungodly linemen who huddle in the crew cab of a truck bunched together for warmth in the cold of winter?  What thinking man would have his grandchildren raised in a day care so that his daughter could scale the corporate ladder?

  If we hope to regain any sanity in this God blessed country, we had better return to the moral moorings that kept us on the right track in the early years.

   God said,  “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church…  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (Ephesians 5:22, 23, 25)”   “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. (Titus 2:4–5)”

  Imagine going to a shop to purchase new tires for your car.  After a long wait, finally someone announces, “Your car is ready.”  With the bill taken care of, you locate your car in the parking lot, but something just doesn’t seem right; the car is sitting lower than usual.  A quick survey of the situation reveals that all four new tires are completely flat.  When the technician returns to your car with you, he immediately notices the flat tires, slaps his forehead with the palm of his hand and shouts, “Oh no, I forgot to put air in your new tires!”  “I knew I was forgetting something!”

  The last step is always crucial whether you are baking a cake, sewing up an incision after surgery, or tying your shoes after getting dressed in the morning.  In most cases it would be better to do nothing than to start something and leave out the essential last step.

  If our last steps are important, how much more critical must they be in spiritual, eternal matters—say in God’s preparation to save men from their sins.  You perhaps have heard that God loves you, but because of your sin, you have been separated from Him.  To remedy the situation, God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for your sins.  We call this good news, the Gospel.  Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect, sinless life in order to make Himself a sufficient sacrifice for your sin.  He gave Himself to be crucified on a Roman cross and was buried.  Now if the story ended here, God’s plan would lack the critical last step.  A dead Savior is no Savior at all.  Jesus must be alive if He is to save those who come to Him by faith, as He promised.  There must be a resurrection.

  Rest assured the last step in God’s plan to offer forgiveness and eternal life has indeed been completed.  Jesus is alive.  In three days, He arose from the grave and lives now to welcome you into the family of God—If you will trust Him for forgiveness!  “Jesus said…, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (John 11:25)”

  If you have children or grandchildren, you have probably lived the horrors of imagining what it would be like if one of them was abducted. We cringe to think of our little loved ones growing up under the influence and abuse of a criminal with no regard for life and without natural affection. We shudder at the thought of our sons or daughters languishing in the last moments of a brief life, alone or among strangers, having forgotten the love of father and mother, grandfather or grandmother.

  I’m sorry if these thoughts stir emotions that cause you grief, but without this perspective you will never know how God feels about you. You are His son or daughter, created to be eternally in His presence. But you have been stolen away from Him and are living in a world cursed with evil that is destined to destroy all who embrace it. Though you have grown accustomed to life without God, and maybe, since you have never known anything else, have grown fond of your captor, you need to know that the life of every captive ends in bitter sorrow, and eternal ruin.

  In spite of your acceptance or love of your present enslavement, God’s love for you has not diminished and He longs for your return. The life He has planned for you is one of abundant and eternal peace and joy. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)”

  Here’s what you need to know: Sin is the culprit that has separated you from God. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)” God sent His Son, Jesus, to break the bonds of sin and buy you back for Himself. “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4)” “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)” If you choose to believe, let me be the first to say, Welcome Home!