The Simple Things

2 Kings 5:1-14 (NIV)

When I read the above referenced scriptures, it reminds me of when at the age of 29 I was being prompted by the Lord to be baptized by immersion.  I argued with Him that I had already been baptized.  (That was as a young teen in the Methodist church, by sprinkling.)  But if I’m going to be honest, I resisted because I just didn’t want anyone to see me with my hair wet and plastered to my head.  You see, my hair is kind of my “crowning glory” and I didn’t ever like to be seen without it styled and looking as nice as possible.  Also, I was very visibly pregnant!  Then God started dealing with me about pride – telling me that that is what was holding me back – plain and simple.  I was being prideful.  So, I finally relented and decided to take the step to be immersed.

The details of when and where are too much to try cover here and aren’t really that relevant, but it was with a group of dear friends that were in our Bible study group.  It was in a very public place – a swimming pool at a hotel, which was pretty disconcerting.  However, it turned out to be a real blessing to me personally (because I beat down my pride) and for my friends (to witness my obedience.)  I believe it also was a blessing to some strangers that witnessed it – probably the last thing they expected to see when they booked a room at that hotel.  I vaguely remember a smattering of hand claps from them!

It’s a simple thing really – obedience.

How often do we all miss out on the blessings of God because we tend to think that we need to do the bigger “great” things in order to be blessed?  So who is going to bless us if we do those “great” things?  Other people?  Maybe.  Will we feel our self-importance and be blessed?  Maybe.

A great Biblical example is when Elisha told Naaman, a man of importance – he was the successful commander of Aram’s army in Israel – to go dip himself seven times in the Jordan in order to be healed of his leprosy.  But this simple request made him angry.  He was going to walk away from the blessing he was promised for his obedience because of pride.  Then his servants said “…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’?”  So he did do the simple thing.  He went to the Jordan and dipped himself seven times and the result was that “his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.”

There is no doubt that the result was a blessing to Naaman.  But I’m sure it also was to his servants that were with him.  I’m also pretty certain that because the Jordan was a public place that some other people unexpectedly witnessed this and were also blessed.  Who wouldn’t be blessed to see a person healed and restored fully from such a disease?

Therefore, we need to be cautious in our walk with our Lord.  We need to learn that God isn’t always going to ask us only to do the “great” things.  He is also going to ask us to do the simple things.  He will take care of pouring out His blessings regardless.  We need to learn to just keep it simple.

Written by Karran Martin

June 9, 2018