February 2 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

The Lord brought Naaman to acknowledge and confess that Israel’s God is God alone. Naaman came to the land of Israel thinking he could buy his health. He had taken ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. But after his healing, he offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving. When he has confessed the true God and the only way of salvation he wants to give a present. Elisha rejects this gift with these forceful words, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” Elisha knows himself to be a servant of God’s free grace. Naaman must see the absolute character of God's sovereign grace. If Elisha accepted the gift, Naaman’s action could be construed as payment for health and salvation. Naaman came from a country where it was common to pay the gods for favours. Israel’s God, the only true God, cannot be paid with money for the salvation He grants. Salvation is given to us by God’s free and sovereign grace.

Naaman takes the service of the Lord very seriously. That is evident from a request he makes. He asks Elisha to give him a couple of bags of dirt. The prophet agrees to give him some. It leaves us wondering: Why would Naaman want to take dirt with him when there is plenty of it back home in Damascus?

Naaman’s request gives evidence of a changed life. A few hours earlier he did not want to have anything to do with the dirty waters of the Jordan, but now he submits to the God of Israel. Naaman recognizes that he stands on holy ground. This is the land where the Lord is pleased to dwell with His people. Naaman wants to extend the area of God’s kingdom to the place where he lives. This dirt will symbolize that the place where he worships is God’s land.

Altars that were built to worship the Lord were mostly made of dirt. Naaman may have used this soil for that purpose. In Old Testament times there was a strong connection between land and the promise of the coming Messiah. God’s people worshipped the Lord in the land of promise. When Naaman goes back to Damascus he will worship the Lord on a piece of Promised Land. He can erect an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, to serve Him and no other. His request for dirt is therefore evidence of a cleansed life.