ToddGaddisBook_October2023_8.5x5.5.indd

hell, separated from God for eternity. Similarly, Naaman was doomed to a life of disease and debilitation. It was after his servants 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’!” (2 Kings 5:13). Naaman responded with a surrendered will, proved by the following: Obedience- “So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times” (2 Kings 5:14). “He who obeys instructions guards his life, but he who is contemptuous of his ways will die” (Proverbs 19:16). Overcom ing his contemptuousness, Naaman obeyed, paving the way for his: Deliverance- “And his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy” (2 Kings 5:14). Like the ten in Jesus’ day who were healed of leprosy as they went to show themselves to the priests (Luke 17:11-19), Naaman was cleansed of this dreaded disease. Profession- Namaan proclaimed, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel’’ (2 Kings 5:15). Don’t miss the significance of this.This powerful, rebellious, Gentile leader, one who had just elevated his own country above Israel, was now ac knowledging their OneTrue God. Anguishing under God’s heavy hand, David cried out after falling into immorality with Bathsheba. “Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). Obviously, David spoke symbolically, crying out for relief from guilt and forgiveness from sin that only God could provide. If you’re in need of a cleansing and restoration that only God can provide, there’s no better time than now to set that in motion. “‘Come now and let us reason together,’ says the Lord,‘though your sins are as scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18).Wash and be cleansed!

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