Count on It

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

There are so many interesting characters in the Bible. As I was reading in my devotion time today, one such character stuck out in my mind; Naaman. He was an important man in the eyes of the world; commander of the army for the King of Aram. In those days, Aram was a strong nation. Soldiers under his command went into Israel, looting and taking prisoners. But something happened to Naaman. He got leprosy, an incurable disease in those days. 

One of his servants, a Hebrew girl, encouraged him to go to Israel and see a prophet there by the name of Elisha. I’m sure Naaman balked at the idea, but what other choice did he have? So off he went. 

He eventually got to the prophet’s house. Let’s pick up the story in our Bibles, 2 Kings 5:9-14: “So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, ‘Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.’ 11 But Naaman went away angry and said, ‘I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage. 13 Naaman’s servants went to 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 he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. “

So simple, yet it worked. Why? Because God promised that it would work! God promised our sins were forgiven by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Count on it. He promised heaven to all who believe in Him. Count on it. He promised to work all things for our good and His glory. Count on it. Whenever God makes a promise, count on it. His promises are true!

Naaman’s servants went to 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 he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. 2 Kings 5:13-14