Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 5-7.

Today the account of Naaman really spoke to me about how God gives us salvation.  First, Naaman was upset that Elisha just sent him a messenger rather than coming out to meet him in person.  We often see people argue that God should come to them in a way that they would be unable to deny his existence.  But God doesn’t usually work that way.  He sends messengers to tell us what He wants from us.  Second, Naaman was upset at the task which Elisha gave him in order to be healed.  In the same way, we often think that the tasks which God calls us to do are beneath us.  Naaman’s servants pointed out to him that if Elisha had asked him to accomplish some noteworthy deed, he would have gladly completed it.  In the same way, we often think that God should call us to some greater task than that to which He calls us.  Then Naaman wanted to reward Elisha for what he had done (actually, for what God had done).  Elisha refused payment for healing Naaman.  It was this which first caused me to see a connection the salvation God offers us.  God will not accept payment for the salvation which He gives us.  This is not just because we have nothing which He did not first give us.  We cannot pay God for our salvation because our reconciliation with God requires us to recognize that we have no power to redeem ourselves.  The final point from this account is Elisha’s servant, Gehazi,  fraudulently obtaining part of the reward which Naaman had offered to Elisha.  In the same way, some people strive to profit from delivering God’s message to sinners.  I am not saying that we should not pay those who do God’s work because we should indeed pay them.  Rather, I am saying that we should not seek to get wealthy while doing God’s work.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.