Scripture Daily

Context No. 3788 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 5:16-20: in context

16But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” He urged him to take it; but he refused. 17Naaman said, “If not, then, please let two mules’ load of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. 18In this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant in this thing.” 19He said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a little way. 20But Gehazi the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Behold, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him, and take something from him.”

Healed of his leprosy, Naaman the Syrian is transformed; he resolves to worship the LORD alone from now on, and he presses Elisha to accept a rich reward. But Elisha firmly refuses: as the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing. The prophet will not let God's free grace be turned into a transaction; the healing was a gift, not a purchase.

Then comes a dark turn. Elisha's servant Gehazi, watching all this, cannot bear to see the reward let go, and secretly resolves to run after Naaman and take something for himself. Two hearts are set side by side. Elisha, who guards the freeness of God's grace and wants nothing for himself, and Gehazi, whose greed makes him grasp at what his master refused. The grace of God is free, given and not sold, and those who serve him are to reflect that, not to exploit his gifts for personal gain. Gehazi's greed would cost him dearly.

Do I honor the freeness of God's grace, refusing to exploit the things of God for my own gain, or does greed, like Gehazi's, make me grasp at what devotion to God should hold loosely?

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