Healing and Humility

Text: 2 Kings 5:1-19

Reflection and Question: Again and again in this lovely story of Elisha healing the leprosy of Naaman, a powerful Aramean military leader, we are reminded to be humble before God. The king of Israel shows humility in his distress that another king would send someone to him to be healed, lest it appear that he were attempting an act of God. The prophet Elisha humbly refuses payment after he does provide Naaman with a cure. And the great Naaman himself is humbled when he is healed, without fanfare, simply by washing in the Jordan River. What event in your life has served to humble you before God?

Prayer: Prayer: Spirit of the Living God, use the riches of this healing story to teach us Your will. May we, like Elisha and the Israeli king, avoid the temptation to confuse Your power with our own. And when we are touched by Your Grace, as Naaman is, may we acknowledge Your power, as he does. Amen.

This meditation is based on the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).