Daily Reading
Daily Thought
Blaise Pascal, 17th-Century French philosopher, proposed that at the very least belief in God is a good bet. God cannot be proved or disproved rationally, he argued, but if God is real, there is great gain in believing in him and great loss in not. If God is not real, then neither matters. It is more reasonable, therefore, to believe, since it is the only course that provides an advantage. This is not a strong faith, but it is a beginning.
Listen in as four lepers employ similar reasoning to their situation. Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, has led his entire army and laid siege to Samaria and a great famine ensued. Four lepers, starving outside the gates of the city of Samaria, reasoned, “If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die” (2Kings 7:4). Like Pascal’s good bet, there was only one choice with an advantage, so they took a chance and went to the Syrian camp and discovered a mighty work of God. The Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear “the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army” (2Kings 7:6), and the Syrians fled and left behind food and drink, silver and gold, clothing, horses, and tents. The siege of Israel was ended. God had saved them and left for the lepers a feast!
It was not a strong faith, but it was a beginning. The lepers saw the might of God and it began a work in their hearts. For a time they feasted on God’s goodness, but then realized, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news” (2Kings 7:9). It must be shared. They called to the gatekeepers, and the gatekeepers called to the king and his household, and the king cried out to the city the siege is over, and now the whole city feasted.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” ~Matthew 13:31-32
You don’t light a fire. You light a match and the match starts the fire.
Daily Prayer
My God, Your grace calls me to You. It is good and it satisfying. May I taste of Your goodness and share it with others. You have given me life, a life so abundant that I dare not keep silent.
Lord God, in You I find life. I know why I am here and what I am to do. Your love is great, and though I first came hesitantly, I now follow fully. You are everything to me, and I give You my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength. May my life overflow and may Your glory be evident in all that I do.
Amen
Daily Question
In your opinion, what is the best reason to follow Jesus?