How God Deals With Pretense

Daily Devotional – Thursday, August 12, 2021

Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.”

2 Kings 2:19 (NKJV)

When Prophet Elisha visited the rebuilt city of Jericho, the residents told him, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.” (2 Kings 2:19).

Beautiful city. Bad water. Barren land. A people who were fed up and could not pretend anymore!  That was Jericho.

Because the people acknowledged their weakness, Elisha instructed the city dwellers, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” (v. 21).

The new bowl represents human beings who have allowed God to work through them, despite their weaknesses (2 Corinthians 4:7).  Matthew 5:13 calls believers the salt of the earth. God expects us to add value and taste to the world.

Now when the salt was cast into the water, God said, “I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness” (v. 21). What a relief for the people of Jericho!  

There are three important lessons in this story:

1. Without God, the world and its inhabitants are barren and unfruitful despite their glamorous façades.
2. We must acknowledge our need for God for Him to starting work in our lives.
3. To cure the world of unfruitfulness, God uses Spirit-filled and transformed Christians to change the world.  

What areas of unproductiveness in your life and society do you need to turn to God? Are you willing to be God’s agent for transforming your world? 

Father, make me an agent of divine change in my society.