Sometimes our assumptions get the better of us. The king of Israel receives a letter from the king of Aram, who has recently beaten him in battle. The letter explains that...

Naaman had it all, almost. He was a successful army commander who had a wife, servants, and the respect of the king. But he also suffered from leprosy. So when he...

Jesus makes it very clear in this passage that following him is an all-consuming task and that not everyone is up to it. Using three would-be followers of Jesus as examples,...

As followers of Christ, Paul encourages us to live according to the Spirit rather than according to the self that is under the power of sin, the flesh. In his list...

Jesus’ act of “set[ting] his face to go to Jerusalem” marks a turning point in Luke’s Gospel as the disciples realize exactly what might be required of them in following Jesus....

The story of Elijah and Elisha contains scriptural resonances that echo forward and backward through the Bible and Christian teaching. The crossing of the Jordan, first by Elijah and then by...

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when many places in the United States were under stay-at-home mandates, I was inexplicably drawn to learning about other times in history when people suffered from...

Paul’s letter to the Galatians is notable for the very strong language he uses to tell the Gentile Christians that it is not necessary to follow the Hebrew law, particularly undergoing...

This passage marks the conclusion of the story of the prophet Elijah, who was active in the Northern Kingdom of Israel throughout the reign of Ahab in the ninth century BCE....

When I was growing up in the church, adults would say to me, “Never forget who you are and whose you are. You are a child of God.” I felt so...