WE have read about the little maid, and about the healing of Naaman, the Syrian captain; and we will see what is said about him alter he was healed. You find it in 2 Kings 5:15,1715And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. (2 Kings 5:15)
17And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord. (2 Kings 5:17). Not only was Naaman healed of his leprosy, and his flesh became like that of a little child, but he acknowledged that the God of Israel, whose goodness and power had healed him, and declared that there was no God in all the earth, but in Israel. And he wanted to give a present to the man of God, through whom he had been healed. But no, the man. of God would receive none. The healing must be entirely free—nothing to pay either before or after the healing. “As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” said the man of God.
Ah! yes, God would have us come to Christ to be saved, “without money and without price and we must not think that after He has saved us, He will take anything for it. It is beyond all price, a gift from God, which all the gold of all the world can neither buy, nor begin to pay for. God will receive nothing for it as payment, either before or after.
After we are saved, however, we ourselves belong to the Lord. He has redeemed us, and we are His. And now we serve and worship Him, not to pay for our salvation, but because we love Him who first loved us. And this is a happy service. We do not serve Him because we must, but because we love Him.
Naaman, after he was cleansed, declared that he would worship no other gods, but only the Lord. He had been an idolater, but now he was turned to the living God, and He would worship Him. This was right. Have you been cleansed of your leprosy? Has the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed you? Ah! this is far more than the healing of Naaman’s leprosy. And does not this lead you to love God, and to yield yourself up ill loving service to the Lord Jesus? Oh! what a precious Saviour He is. He is worthy of your service and your worship. A.H. R.
ML 12/24/1899