Monday 28 March 2011
- Bible Book:
- 2 Kings
] and said to him, 'Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, "Wash and be clean?"'" (v. 13)
Background
Here is a miraculous transformation, not just of the physicalbody but also of the 'soul'. Naaman is cross when Elisha suggestshe does something as mundane as washing to cure his leprosy, and itis easy to understand why. Here is Naaman, a great man and acompetent soldier, but also afflicted with an illness which makeshim a social outcast. This uncleanliness will have consumed him,and he will have struggled with it for many years. Can you imaginehow he felt when Elisha told him he could just go and wash?However, this washing is not like washing away a dirty mark, it isan act of faith. So stripping off and washing somewhere as publicas the river requires Naaman to lower himself to the level of hisservants. He has to swallow his pride and believe that God can makehim well.
God offers each one of us an opportunity to be healed, cleansed andwelcomed back into God's loving arms. Once we accept that we areall equally unclean and equally in need of God's love, we can bereborn as children of God. This is both an act of confession and anact of faith.
To Ponder
Are there occasions in your life when you haveneeded to swallow your pride? How did it make you feel? Hand thosefeelings over to God.
How can we show that we believe everyone isequally in need of God's healing as we confess our faith to thosewe meet?
Many of us have things which we have struggledwith for many years, and it is easy to accept them as something wecannot change. Is today the day when you take another step towardsbeing everything God intends you to be?