Keep it simple!
Their problem is that they are comparing themselves to the people they are serving instead of the God they are serving.
June 23
But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply to go and wash and be cured!”
2 Kings 5:13
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Keep it simple!
Naaman is the commander of Aram’s army. He is well admired by his king. He has been very successful for the king of Aram, but he has contracted leprosy. A slave girl from Israel informs Naaman’s wife that there is a prophet in Israel who can heal him. So Naaman comes to Elisha in Samaria to be healed of leprosy, a very contagious skin disease.
When Naaman shows up at Elisha’s door, he sends a messenger out to tell Naaman to go to the Jordan River and wash himself and be healed. Naaman gets very upset; this was not how he expected to be treated. He expected to be shown a great deal more respect and he expected some kind of ritual that led to his healing.
In our verse for the day, his officers attempt to reason with him. They point to the error in his logic. Naaman believed he was a great man and so believed he should be treated in some great way including in the manner in which he was to be healed. To go and wash in the Jordan River was simply too simple.
There is a great picture of salvation here, in that salvation is simply accepting what Jesus did for us at Calvary. It is not involved in some great ritual or process; simply believe in Jesus. That bothers some people, and some people try to add to it to make it seem more complex. Salvation is simple enough for a child to understand it and accept and I thank God that it is.
Some people approach serving God in the same way that Naaman approached being healed by God. They expect that their importance will determine where and how they serve God. Their problem is that they are comparing themselves to the people they are serving instead of the God they are serving. People who are important in the world sometimes expect to have important positions in serving God.
When we come to God and tell Him that we are ready to serve Him we must be ready to serve wherever He might direct us. As a pastor people regularly come to me and tell me they believe God is telling them they should be serving Him in some way, but they are not sure how. I can always tell if they have a heart like Naaman’s when I suggest they do something small or simple. If they are upset because they were not given a task as great as they are, it is proof that the pride of Naaman lives in their heart.
The only way they can be healed of that is through obedience and the washing of the blood of Christ. Naaman did as Elisha instructed and was healed, and he came back to Elisha a changed man. We must never think ourselves so great that there is any task for God is below us, especially when it comes from a God who is so much greater than us. Jesus, teach to gladly do the simple tasks for our great God.
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