“You
Will Be Cleansed”
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 of raiders 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 all 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. So please accept a gift from
your servant.”
2 Kings 5:1-15
A
young servant girl had been taken captive from Isreal. She
told Naamumn’s wife that a prophet in Samaria could
heal him. When Elisha’s instructions to bathe in the Jordan River angered Naaman, his servants urged him to follow the prophet’s
orders. The result was Naaman’s restoration to health
and a declaration from him: “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel.”
What
a beautiful picture of our role as followers of Jesus Christ! We are called to be
people of influence – the Lord’s servants who point others to the One whose
touch can change their lives.
Christ sends us out to bring others in.
Our
Daily Bread – July 30, 2013