Sincerity does not always translate to correctness. There are so many sincere people of God who are getting things wrong. This could be due to insufficient knowledge or incoherent theology. The sons of the prophets at Jericho seemed to suffer from both. Shortly before Elijah was taken to heaven, they had teased Elisha that his master would be withdrawn from him. So they had prophetic insight into what was imminent. However, after his miraculous exit, they wondered if the Spirit of the Lord might have crashed him on a mountain or into a valley. Such conjecture shows that they were not properly instructed in the way of the Spirit. There is nothing unruly about the Spirit of God. Their conceptualization of the Spirit was quite different from what we know of Him. He is not the author of confusion, as these sons of the prophets seemed to suggest.

Sincerity does not always translate to correctness…many sincere people of God who are getting things wrong…due to insufficient knowledge or incoherent theology…(listen to) someone with deeper spiritual insight and wider life experiences can save you from a goose chase.

Their half-baked theology was the reason they suggested that a search party be sent to look for Elijah. Elisha tried to dissuade them, but they pushed relentlessly until he gave them leave. Fifty strong men went on a three-day search and could not find Elijah. There was no way they could have found him, because he had landed safely in heaven. That search was unnecessary if only they had listened. They could have saved themselves from that fruitless labour. The key point of our meditation today is that someone with deeper spiritual insight and wider life experiences can save you from a goose chase.