DCLM Daily Manna 2024: DCLM Daily Manna 18 August 2024: Lessons From A Maid
Text: 2 Kings 5:1-10 (KJV)
1 Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.
2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
KEY VERSE: 2 Kings 5:3
“And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.”
In 2018, the Science Daily reported that researchers from the University of Zurich found that “nerve cells in the skin help wounds to heal”. Although the research to unearth how this process becomes possible is still ongoing, it has been described as a scenario in which cells (which ordinarily should suffer the same fate as the wounded part of the body) change their identity to help heal a wound.
This aptly describes the maid of Naaman’s wife. She was among the captives of a previous Syrian attack on Israel. She was a slave in Syria who did not forget her roots and the power of the God of Israel. Seeing Naaman suffer leprosy was a concern for her. She offered him a life-changing counsel for her master to avail himself of God’s provision through His appointed prophet in Israel. The counsel, though unsolicited, led to a turning point in the life of the Syrian captain.
Lessons abound for the believer from the story of the maid. Naaman could be described as her enemy because he was the “captain of the host of the king of Syria” that invaded and captured Israel. But this did not stop her from offering counsel to the master. Although the soldier was her enslaver, she still pointed him to where he could get the solution to his problem. Rather than hate her enemy, the maid helped him to get in contact with Elisha, the prophet, for healing.
Jesus commands believers to love their enemies, bless those that hate them and pray for those who despitefully use and persecute them. This is the trait of truly sanctified Christians. We are to make concerted efforts to bring sinners, our persecutors and enemies to know the truth and be channels of blessings to the people around us every day.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Christian goodness is only complete when it covers our enemies.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Job 35-38
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Daily Manna 18 August 2024
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