Once, Twice, Three Times…

2 Kings 5:13-14  But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!

During my time as a Sectional Youth Ministries Director I got a call from pastor who was calling me to let me know that he had fired his youth pastor, did I know of any who were available?

I asked the pastor why he fired his youth pastor and was told that the youth pastor asked to make more money. Hey, we were youth pastors, we all wanted to make more money!

When the pastor told the young man he could work for their Christian school, the youth pastor answered, “I’m sorry, that’s beneath me, I won’t do that.” That attitude is what got him fired.

Our verses today deal with Naaman, a very important man from Aram. Naaman was commander of Aram’s armies, and had been very successful. Unfortunately, Naaman also had leprosy. Naaman was encouraged to go to see God’s prophet, Elishah.

When he got to Elisha’s house, the prophet just said through the door, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan River and you’ll be healed.” Naaman was offended! “That’s it, I’m going back home, this is stupid! I told you it was a bad idea!”

One of his officers said, “Dude, you came all this way. Swallow your pride and give it a shot.”

I can imagine Naaman dunking once, twice, three times a lady… Oops, I got sidetracked there.

When he finally surfaces after his seventh dunk his skin is healed! What if Naaman had refused to even try? What if he said, “That’s beneath me, I won’t do that.” His pride would have remained, but so would his leprosy.

We all get chances to serve in both big and small ways. You might be asked to speak to a thousand people, or you might be asked to replace the church van radiator. I’ve done both. The important thing is not the size of the task, it is the size of your obedience. The obedience of the church van radiator came long before the speaking to a large crowd. So go ahead and dip into the water, great things may be on the other side. Or it could just be a mechanic’s job. Either way, do it for God.

Today’s Readings:  2 Kings 4,5; Psalm 83; 1 Timothy 2

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