Go To Jordan Seven Times If You Want To Shine

October 13, 2019

From today’s reading…

Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times

at the word of Elisha, the man of God.

His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child,

and he was clean of his leprosy.”

Today we see two stories about lepers being cured. One in 2 Kings 5 and the other in Luke 17.

Unlike the 10 lepers Jesus healed in Luke today, Naaman was a somebody. He was…

the army commander of the king of Aram, was highly esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram.”

But he still suffered from leprosy, so you know he was not 100% accepted into society, despite his rank and success on the battlefield.

Maybe he was a man of faith because “through him the Lord had brought victory to Aram,” but that’s probably not the case.

It’s more likely he was either a pagan or agnostic and was simply desperate to have his physical ailment healed so he used his position in an attempt to buy a cure for himself.

In the end, it was not his money that saved him. It was his active, albeit, begrudging participation in following the instructions of God through one of His chosen messengers that led to his physical—and spiritual—cleansing.

And it is through this outcast pagan’s baptism that we see how holy and powerful the Jordan River and baptism are (it was good enough for the baptism of Jesus by another powerful messenger of God about 700 years later) and how we must seek, listen, and follow the will of God if we want to…

Stay the course.Keep the faith.Endure.