2 Kings 5:1-14
Your Story
Talk about a time when you felt like something was just too easy. Was your reaction a happy one or more like Naaman’s reaction in this story?
My Story and the Bible Story
There are times when things seem too good to be true. Maybe it’s a test that you thought was going to be really hard but it was super easy. Maybe you hurt someone else and you feel guilty, and in order for them to forgive you, they ask you to do something that turns out to be really easy. Maybe it’s beating a level on a video game that was easier than you thought. Whatever it is, there are times when things seem too easy or too good to be true. We think they should be harder and we ask questions about it. In the book of 2 Kings, Naaman needed to be healed. He was a commander, an important man in the army of the king of Aram. But, he had leprosy. And you couldn’t be the commander of an army and have leprosy. He needed healing. But he wasn’t very happy about what the prophet Elisha told him.
Read 2 Kings 5:1-14. From the NIV: Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. “By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.” As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why do this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!” When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 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.” But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought surely he would 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. 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. 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!’” 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.
Naaman thought Elisha’s cure for his leprosy was too easy. And not only that, he was offended that Elisha didn’t even come out to greet him. Naaman was pretty important. So it was hard for him to do something so easy that would heal him. But once his servant reminded him that he had been prepared to do something big if Elisha had told him to, Naaman realized what he needed to do. And once he did that small, easy thing, he was healed.
Sometimes people think becoming a Christian is too easy. When we earn the things we have (when we earn good grades, money, etc.), it can be hard to accept God’s gift of grace. We sometimes think grace should be harder to get than that. But the good news is that God’s grace is available for every single one of us. All we have to do is tell God that we’re not perfect, that we do the wrong thing sometimes, and that we love Him and want to be His friend forever. Getting God’s grace is easy. All we have to do is ask!
Discussion and Prayer
- Are there people in your lives who think God’s grace is too easy? How can you use this story to share God’s grace with them?
- Talk about how sometimes God asks us to do easy things (be a friend to someone who is new, help someone) and sometimes God asks us to do hard things (be nice to a bully, move to a new place, etc.) But God always helps us do what He wants us to do.
Pray, asking God for help in doing the hard things God asks us to do, and asking God for help in doing the easy things too.
Jessica Asbell is currently serving as the Minister to Children at First Baptist Church of Roswell, GA. She has worked with children in various capacities at several churches, including Winter Park Baptist in Wilmington, NC, First Baptist of Decatur, GA, and Highland Hills Baptist in Macon, GA. She has a Master of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology and a BBA from Mercer University. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, and of course spend time with her sweet kitty, Lucy.
