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Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.

Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel."

So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy."

As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"

When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel."

So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage.

Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.

Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant."

The prophet answered, "As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing." And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.

"If you will not," said Naaman, "please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also —when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this."

"Go in peace," Elisha said.

2 Kings 5:1-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When God makes demands of us or gives us advice, how we respond can make all the difference as to whether we find ourselves blessed or cursed.

Point in case is Naaman, “the commander of the army of the king of Aram”, who we meet as Chapter 5 of 2nd Kings opens.

Scripture tells us he was a “valiant soldier”…a “great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram”.

Indeed, Naaman had a lot going for him but there was just one problem.

He was a leper.

Leprosy was a terrible affliction to have in biblical days. In Israel, a person stricken with leprosy was considered an outcast and was excluded from society. Naaman was not in Israel but as we read, he did have a connection to there.

For we’re told that “bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel” who was a servant to Naaman’s wife. The Israelite girl, knowing the power of God that was in the prophet Elisha, spoke to Naaman’s wife saying, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."

Well, Naaman’s wife told her husband what the girl had said, subsequently, he went to the King of Aram with a request to go to Israel and see if he could be healed. The king granted his request and told Naaman, “By all means, go…I will send a letter to the king of Israel."

And so Naaman headed toward Israel and took along “ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing”. He arrived in Israel and gave the letter from the Aramean king to Joram, king of Israel, who opened it and read, “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy."

Joram did not take the letter well. For we read where he “tore his robes after reading it and proclaimed, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"

Meanwhile, Elisha had heard about what had happened and sent the following message to Joram:

"Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel."

And so Joram did as Elisha requested and Naaman “went with his horses and chariots”, stopping at the “door of Elisha's house”. Then “Elisha sent a messenger” to Naaman and told him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

The request seemed simple enough. Wash seven times in the Jordan River and be cleansed from the disease. But Naaman, for whatever reason, didn’t want to go to all the trouble of carrying out Elisha’s guidance, even though Elisha was speaking on behalf of God Himself.

You see, Naaman wasn’t willing to take action to correct his problem. He wanted it to be easy. We know this because of his words when he said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?"

All Naaman thought needed to happen was for Elisha to wave over his leprous spot and he would be miraculously healed. And when he didn’t get things the way he wanted, he “turned and went off in a rage”. Could God have done it the way Naaman imagined? Absolutely. In fact, all Elisha would have had to do is speak the words, “Be clean!” and God could have healed the leprosy. But you see, it wasn’t God’s will to heal Naaman that way…and Naaman wanted it to be his will not the Lord’s.

Question: How often are we like Naaman? We want things to go just the way we want them to go and when things don’t work out just the way we want them too, we turn from God and go off in a rage…blaming God for not giving us what we needed when we wanted Him to. We forget that we have no business telling God what to do. It’s the other way around.

And sometimes, when we get off on the wrong tangent, we need someone to talk to us and get us turned around the right way.

This is what happened with Naaman after he stormed off.

For scripture tells us that “Naaman's servants went to him” and asked, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" And these words made the difference, convincing Naaman to give Elisha’s request a try. He “went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times” just as Elisha had told him”…and guess what? When he came up out of the Jordan, “his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy”.

Obedience led to reward.

Imagine how Naaman must have felt after coming out of that water…cleansed and free of affliction. What a blessing! In fact, so grateful was Naaman that he returned to Elisha with all his attendants and testified, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant."

Well, Elisha was certainly happy for Naaman…that he had finally shown the faith to go into the water and carry out the command of the Lord as spoken through the prophet. But Elisha wasn’t looking for a physical reward. Being a powerful instrument of God’s will and way was enough. And no matter how much Naaman insisted, Elisha declined his offers. Finally, Naaman made a request of his own.

For we read where he asked Elisha if he could have “as much earth as a pair of mules can carry” because Naaman promised that he would “never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord”. Naaman knew that none of the dirt back in Aram was holy enough for him to stand and properly come before God. In fact, Naaman asked Elisha to forgive him when he had to accompany his king to worship false gods. Such was his new faith in the one and only God. And this is why he asked for, and was permitted, to take earth home with him…so he would have at least somewhere to stand on holy ground.

Friends, this is what happens to us as well when we obey God and carry out His desires. Our obedience leads us to His favor and blessing…and it takes us to a place where we can be assured we are standing on holy ground…holy because while standing on it…He is within us and we are in Him. In other words, we are in good standing.

Once Naaman was willing to pay the price and do what God commanded, he found His favor…a place that left him clean and a new man.

God is ready to do the same through you today…to make you clean and a new person. You just need to be like Naaman…willing to pay the price and obey, carrying out the will of the Father…just as Jesus, His Son and our Savior did when He paid the price in full for you on Calvary’s cross.

If you haven’t come to Him, won’t you do so today.

If you have strayed from Him, won’t you return to Him today.

And if you are fully in Him, never leave Him and stay in Him always.

For Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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