On the level
Dear Friends,
Grace is a great leveller. God’s grace means that we all come to him on exactly the same terms, on our knees, as sinners asking for mercy. There are no short-cuts, no VIP lounges, no fast tracks, no inside circles, no special passes, no exemptions, no byes.
Naaman the Syrian had to learn that lesson, but he learned it well. Do you remember Naaman? He was “commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded .. a valiant man” (2 Kings 5:1). There was only one thing wrong, but it was a big thing: he had leprosy.
Having found his way to the prophet Elisha in Israel, he is told to wash himself in the Jordan seven times to be cleansed. He’s outraged, and will have none of it. After all, anybody could do that! Don’t they know he’s a great man? That’s the thing about grace; it’s a great leveller. Thankfully, his servants are wise enough to point out that, if he had been asked to do some great thing, he would have done it gladly. So he relents, he washes seven times in the Jordan and is cleansed.
How many people would prefer to do some great thing for God, when all he asks us to do is throw ourselves on Christ, asking for mercy? Can’t anybody do that, regardless of how important, moral, intelligent or great they are? Yes, they can; that’s grace, the great leveller. We all come to God in exactly the same way, which means it’s open to all of us.
Yours in Christ,
Chris Hobbs