ICS Daily Devotions
Just Obey the Word
2 Kings 5:1,10-11,13-14 (NKJV) Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper….And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’… And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
As Christians, we need to learn to obey instructions and trust in the Lord. Sometimes, we tend to place too much importance on the person who lays hands on us to pray for healing and forget that it is God who heals. We need to remember that the person who ministers to us is just a channel for the power of God to flow. In fact, God can heal us without using anyone but simply when we reach out to Him by faith.
Naaman was a well-respected commander of the army and honoured by the king. He was very insulted when Elisha didn’t respect him by coming to him, and worse, asked him to simply dip in the River Jordan seven times. It was a ridiculous suggestion in his eyes. He protested and refused to listen to the man of God, but thankfully, his servants told him that if he would have done what was complicated, then why not give the simple a try—there was certainly nothing to lose. When he humbly did as he was told, he was healed.
Sometimes, instead of just believing in God, we find it challenging to take God’s Word as biblical truth and placing our faith in it. Very often, we tend to think that we need a very complicated process for healing or have someone special like an anointed preacher or pastor to minister to us. Instead, we should simply reach out to Jesus, who is our healer!
God wants us to take His Word for it. Therefore, don’t despise simple instructions and just take God’s Word for it.
Sermon Series: Focus on Jesus
