In the book of 2 Kings, there was a man named Naaman who had leprosy. Naturally he was looking to be cured so when he heard about the prophet, Elisha, in Israel, Naaman went to see him. When he arrived at Elisha’s house, Elisha merely sent out his servant to tell Naaman to go wash seven times in the Jordan River.
What would you feel in that moment? You’ve just heard that there is the possibility to be saved from a terminal (and painful) illness. Wouldn’t you be a little bit excited? Wouldn’t you be hopeful? Wouldn’t you run off immediately to wash in the river?
Well, Naaman wasn’t. He actually got mad and started to leave. He obviously wanted to be cured, but apparently he also wanted things done the way he expected them to be done; namely he thought Elisha would wave his hands over the leprosy and make it vanish. And that’s when Naaman’s servant said something really profound: “If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it?” (2 Kings 5:13 NIV)
What if God had asked us to do ‘some great thing’ to earn His love and forgiveness – wouldn’t we do it? If God said that to get into heaven we each would have to lift 600 lbs, wouldn’t we start a weight lifting regimen? If God said that to be forgiven we would have to swim across Lake Michigan, wouldn’t we start practicing our backstroke? But God doesn’t ask some incredible feat from us. What He wants is something that anyone, anywhere, at anytime can do. No physical ability required. No minimum cash payment. No prerequisite IQ. God only wants us to love Him and submit to Him.
We may want to have things our way so that we can still have control over our lives. But what we are needing cured of cannot be fixed by our own efforts. Christ has already done ‘some great thing’ for us. We need only to be washed in the water and live for Him.