Day 108 - 2 Kings 5-8

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 108 - 2 Kings 5-8 (A Lesson on Humility)
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"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.'  Are not the Abanah  and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage." (2 Kings 5:10-12)

We are told in our Scripture reading for today that Naaman was army commander of the king of Syria and his right-hand man but that he was also a leper.  Through the suggestion of a young Israeli slave girl, Naaman went to Samaria to seek Elisha in the hope of getting healed by the man of God.  And as we read in our text above, Naaman was enraged when Elisha did not even come out of his house to see Naaman face to face but sent his messenger to instruct Naaman what he should do to be healed.

Were it not for the wise counsel of his servants who were with him to follow Elisha's instructions and of his decision to lay aside his pride, Naaman would have never been healed of his leprosy.  Because Naaman followed Elisha's command, he was instantly healed of his leprosy.  After his healing, Naaman returns to Elisha to thank him and this time Elisha comes out of his house to meet him but refuses the reward Naaman tried to offer him.  A true servant of God ministers without regard for compensation especially if the person ministered to is an unbeliever.  Jesus said you shall know a person by his fruit.  A false minister of the gospel does so for profit.

Now to the real subject of this short devotional - humility.  I believe that Elisha deliberately refused to meet the second in command of Syria in order to test his humility.  The Bible says that God hates the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).  If we are to have an audience with God almighty, we must lay aside all pride and approach Him humbly and through the merit of Christ's righteousness because we have none.

Speaking of humility, I can think of no better picture of it than the example of humility which the Lord Jesus Christ modeled before His twelve apostles at the last supper, the last lesson He would teach them before His death on the cross.  Imagine the God of all creation Himself about to have a meal with His servants when to the surprise of all, He removes His garments and girds a towel and starts washing the dirty feet of His disciples!  He did what those knuckleheads should have done! And He did so to teach them about humility:

      "So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do             you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.  If I         then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I       have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.  Most assuredly, I say to you, a       servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.  If you             know these things, blessed are you if you do them." (John 13:12-017) 

Let me tell you what Christs's example of humility means to me.  It means this: if God Himself did not consider his being God as something of importance to prevent Him from lowering Himself to the level of the lowliest of servitude, I can do no less.  The fact that Jesus Christ my Lord chose to teach His disciples a lesson on humility for His last class with them speaks volumes to me that humility is what I need to nurture and practice in my own life and ministry.

I hope and pray that as you read this post that you will see the importance of humility in your own life as well.  May these words of our Master Servant give inspire and move you to be humility:  "...whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave-- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."  (Matthew 20:26b-28)