[Membersandfriends] Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Tue Nov 9 22:01:35 PST 2004

The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
Wednesday, November 10, 2004

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A SIMPLE ACT
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2 Kings 5:1-14 (NRSV)

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel."

He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me." 

But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached 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'?" So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

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"Are not . . . the rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel?  Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" [Naaman] turned and went away in a rage.       
- 2 Kings 5:12 (NRSV)
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NAAMAN was a great military commander serving the king of Syria, and he had leprosy.  Through a young Israelite girl who was a slave to his wife, Naaman learned that there was a prophet in Israel who could heal him.  With his king's blessing, Naaman went to Israel, hoping to be cured of his disease.

When Naaman finally arrived at the home of Elisha the prophet, Elisha did not come out to greet him.  Instead, he sent a messenger to tell Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times.  Naaman was furious that an important man like him would be treated this way, and he went away in rage.  However, Naaman's servants reasoned with him that if he had been told to do something difficult, he would have done it.  So Naaman complied with the prophet's simple directive, and he was cured.

How often do we allow pride or vanity or arrogance to prevent us from doing something that would be beneficial or helpful to ourselves or to others?  Like Naaman, we may feel insulted or belittled when asked to do something we think is beneath our status.  Yet a simple act of obedience may be all that is necessary to bring about a great recovery or an astonishing miracle.

Prayer:  God of power and might, help us to trust your ability to accomplish great things in our lives.  Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
No task in God's kingdom is beneath you.

-- A. L. Mitchell (Virginia, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: For strength to obey God

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RELATED READING ...

In TURN TOWARD PROMISE: The Prophets and Spiritual Renewal, John Indermark draws on the stories of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel to take readers on a journey of spiritual renewal that's relevant today.
http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/desc.asp?ep_id=30&item_id=197662

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The scripture quotation is from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION of the Bible, copyright (c) 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.