2 Kings 5:10-19a

2 Kings 5:10-19a - Daily Devotion - 15 July 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 10 Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.”11 But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out, stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the spot to cure my leprosy. 12 Are not the Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not have washed in them and been cleansed?” So he turned and went away in a rage.13 Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”14 So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a little child, and he was clean.15 Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “Now I know for sure that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”16 But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will not accept it.” And although Naaman urged him to accept it, he refused.17 “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much soil as a pair of mules can carry. For your servant will never again make a burnt offering or a sacrifice to any other god but the LORD. 18 Yet may the LORD forgive your servant this one thing: When my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my arm, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant in this matter.”19 “Go in peace,” said Elisha.REFLECTIONSWritten by Tim MitryWe recently finished the book of Daniel in our sermons. Naaman’s story is a bit like a shorter version of Nebuchadnezzar’s story arc in Daniel. They were both wealthy, powerful, rich men whom God humbled. I also picked up on a similar lesson as in Daniel: God is always at work towards His purposes, both in big and small ways. Naaman’s success in chapter 5:1 is only due to the LORD, and nothing after that is a coincidence.God has worked in big and small ways to bring Naaman to Israel so that he “will know that there is a prophet in Israel”, and Naaman now testifies that “there is no God in all the earth except in Israel”. After all, Naaman can’t credit the river water of Israel for healing his leprosy – he claims the rivers in his homeland are better! And Elisha didn’t even come out to meet him, so Naaman can hardly say it was some hand-waving that healed him.On reflection, I find I have a bit in common with Naaman. He has wealth and power to seek out medical treatments. I sort of have that too – I am citizen in one of the wealthiest countries in the world with access to lots of free and advanced healthcare. He lives in a nation that worships physical idols in temples, I live in a nation that worships the idols of property, self, and pleasure. I pray that I will be resolute like Naaman in my testimony and worship of God. I pray that I will be kept from the mistake Naaman made – that is, limiting God to work according to my expectations of how he should work. Why not pray those things for yourself too? ABOUT THE AUTHORTim is one of our Ministry Apprentices.