Editor’s Note: The AMI Quiet Time devotionals from August 6-7 are provided by Doug Tritton of Symphony Church in Boston.
Devotional Thoughts for Today
2 Kings 5:25-27: He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.
Yesterday, we looked at this story of Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, who greedily took a gift from Naaman the Syrian, a gift that Elisha had first refused. He was unwilling to forego that gift; he felt they deserved it. Now, having taken the gift, Gehazi comes before Elisha. When asked where he had been, Gehazi lies to his master, but Elisha confronts Gehazi and calls him out for his greed. He saw through Gehazi’s lie and exposed the truth, that Gehazi had acted in self-centeredness.
So true are those words spoken by God long ago, “If you do not do well, sin is crouching out the door.” (Gen. 4:7) When we give room for sin, we just open the door for more and more sin. This is evident in the story woven by Gehazi, a story meant to deceive his master. When sin gets a hold of us, sometimes we do anything to keep it hidden, to keep up a good image.
What is the solution? Repentance! When sin gets into our hearts, it festers and breeds more sin. But when we allow the grace of God to enter, sin is plucked out like an unwanted weed. But the more we let the sin fester and grow, the deeper the root springs in our hearts and the more difficult it is to remove it. So today, let’s spend some time searching our hearts. Allow the Spirit of God to search through your heart, exposing any unconfessed sin and let’s bring all our sin to the only One who forgives.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your amazing grace, your mercy that covers over every sin. Let my heart today be cleansed again in You. Help me to trust in Your forgiveness rather than trying to lie and deceive to keep sin hidden. Lord, let Your light expose and remove the darkness in my heart. Come and minister to my heart today, Lord.
Bible Reading for Today: Micah 7
Lunch Break Study
Read Ephesians 5:13-16: But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Questions to Consider
- What should we allow to be exposed by the light?
- How do we let the darkness in our hearts be exposed by the light?
- How can we walk as wise in this world?
Notes
- Darkness is overcome when exposed by the light. There is darkness in our hearts, darkness that has sprouted from sin, but when we bring our sin to God, bring it to the light, we find forgiveness and the darkness is immediately cast away.
- Through repentance! When we awake from the sleep of sin and open our hearts to God’s merciful light, Christ shines on us with His amazing grace. Repentance often may feel heavy, feel difficult, but once we repent, there is light and joy as Christ’s love more deeply enters our hearts.
- Walking as wise means trusting in Christ and His forgiveness. Wisdom is shown most clearly in a humble heart that is willing to confess. This is true wisdom, humbly trusting in the grace of God. And the best use of our time is spending it with Jesus! So let’s come to Him, knowing that He is the provider of all we need.
Evening Reflection
Tonight, bring to the light any darkness that has remained hidden in your heart. Spend some time allowing God to search your heart, even the darkest corners and depths, so that His light may penetrate more fully. As you repent, allow the joy of the Lord to come and lift your soul in worship.
In this passage, Elisha had just healed the Syrian man Naaman of leprosy. Upon being healed, Naaman requested to give a gift to Elisha, but Elisha refused. But Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, was not so willing to say no to a gift. More than likely Gehazi was thinking, Elisha spared this Syrian man, this oppressor of Israel, so of course we deserve a gift from him! Gehazi then proceeds to tell a story of the family of prophets in need of silver and clothes, and Naaman quickly agrees to provide. Gehazi, taking advantage of Naaman’s generosity, receives the gift for himself.
Israel and Aram had been at war against one another. Because of Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness, God gave them into the hands of Aram and caused Naaman, the captain of Aram’s army, to be successful. In the eyes of their enemies, Israel was weak and there was little evidence that God was among them. The king of Israel’s response to the king of Aram’s letter reflects Israel’s unbelief – “Do you think I am God? I am not able to heal leprosy!” He didn’t consider inquiring of Elisha, the prophet of Israel, but instead he worried that Aram was stirring up a fight against him. Though the king displayed a lack of faith in God, the author of 2 Kings highlights the faith of a young Israelite servant girl, who remembered Elisha and believed in God’s power in him. Furthermore, Naaman himself showed faith in the God. He asked his king to prepare a letter and a gift so he could go and meet Elisha. Though he was reluctant and prideful at first to wash seven times in the Jordan, he eventually listened to Elisha’s word, experienced complete healing, and declared, “I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel…”
When I am going through a tough time, my natural tendency is to withdraw and isolate myself from people and from God. Usually it is because I’m afraid to face my troubled emotions or I turn to my own strength to deal with the matter. The faith of the Shunammite woman encourages me to do the exact opposite. When I want to isolate myself, I should instead run with all my determination and might to the presence of God.
In this story, we meet a widow in great distress. Her husband is dead and she is not able to pay off her family’s financial debt. Her creditor threatens to take her two sons as slaves. In the ancient world, a widow is vulnerable to poverty and social alienation. After her husband’s death, a widow’s security is her son’s ability to provide for her. To lose her sons to the creditor would be a tragic loss for her. Here, she cries out to Elisha for survival and protection.
One of my favorite movies is the original Karate Kid. The main character, Daniel LaRusso, is the new kid who gets picked on by bullies who know karate. To learn how to fight back, Daniel asks his neighbor Mr. Miyagi to teach him karate. Mr. Miyagi agrees but immediately instructs Daniel to begin washing cars, polishing floors and painting fences. After a week of frustration, Daniel confronts Mr. Miyagi about the lack of training; but only after sparring with Mr. Miyagi does he realize that those exact chores were the means to develop his muscle memory for karate.
The first miracle I ever experienced was when I was 7 years old. I used to be a coin collector when I was in elementary school, and although most of my collection comprised of pennies and nickels, my prized possession was an old silver dollar coin. At least once a week, I’d open my little coin box and just gaze at each coin, especially at the silver dollar. But one evening, I took my coin box to church to show off to my friends, and as I was going through each of the coins, to my horror, the silver dollar was missing! I looked everywhere for it; I emptied the box, searched under the seat… nothing. It was gone! So, I got down on my knees and prayed the most sincere prayer I had ever prayed until that point in my life, “God, please help me find my coin!” And when I opened my eyes, I looked back into my box, and there it was— shining like it had never left the box. I had never felt so much excitement and relief! That was my first taste of the power of God.
Wars require water. Especially in ancient times, having enough water for your army could be the determining factor in the outcome of a battle. In fact, water was so important to maintaining an army that poisoning enemy water sources was a common practice of ancient warfare. In this chapter, three armies (Israel, Judah, and Edom) join together to fight against the enemy Moabites. An incredible force! But they seem to have run into a major problem… they had no water. Hundreds of thousands of thirsty soldiers and many more animals are all but useless without water. In this dire situation, we see two distinct responses from two different kings: Jehoram, the king of Israel, said, “Alas! The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab,” while Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?”
Have you ever longed to be one of Jesus’ twelve disciples? To have walked, talked and eaten with Him? I am sure that most Christians have, and who could blame them? The idea of seeing Christ in the flesh, witnessing His miracles, hearing all of His teachings firsthand – these are the things that dreams are made of. I bet that’s similar to how the “company of the prophets” felt after Elijah was taken up to heaven. Yes, they recognized that “the Spirit of Elijah [was now] resting on Elisha,” but there was something within them that still longed for Elijah – his ministry, his power, and maybe even just for the man himself. Therefore they insisted on organizing a search party to recover their spiritual icon. There efforts, however, would be in vain, as God had another plan – His work would be continued and would lack nothing through Elijah’s successor Elisha.