November 3 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

2 Kings 5:1-14:

¹Now 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.
²And 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.
³And 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.
⁴And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
⁵And 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.
⁶And 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.
⁷And 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.
⁸And 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.
⁹So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
¹⁰And 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.
¹¹But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
¹³And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
¹⁴Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Devotional

A little girl of the land of Israel was taken captive, and was brought to the land of Syria. Here she was brought into the house of Naaman. Naaman was the captain of the Syrian army. He was a mighty man. By him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. But he had a very terrible disease called leprosy.

The little girl said to her mistress, "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would heal him of his leprosy." The prophet's name was Elisha. Then the king of Syria sent Naaman to the king of Israel and he sent a letter with him, asking that the king of Israel might cure Naaman his ser­vant of his leprosy. After the king of Israel had read the letter, he said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive?"

When Elisha the man of God heard of it, he said, "Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman came with his horses and chariot and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. He had brought along a lot of money and beautiful clothes for Elisha. But Elisha sent a serv­ant to him who told him, "Go and wash in Jordan seven times." This made Naaman angry, because Elisha did not even come out to him, and he went away in a rage. But his servants talked to him. Then he went and dipped himself in Jordan seven times, and he was clean from his leprosy. This blessing came to him through the little maid in his house. She was not afraid to speak of God and his prophet. Are you?

Prayer

O God, Thou dost rule over the nations of the world. But Thou dost also rule over our individual lives. Nothing comes to us by chance. May we acknowledge Thee as our God. We thank Thee that Thou hast revealed Thyself as a God of love in Christ Jesus. May we acknowledge him as our Lord and our Saviour, and help us to confess him before men, so that others through our testimony may learn to know the way of salvation. We ask it in his name. Amen.

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