The story of Namaan in 2 kings 5:1-14 is hardly just about a man who was cured of leprous, it is also about a man who almost lost his chance to salvation because of pride, today the character of Namaan lives in us and unfortunately some people completely go through this life Christians but never get really saved because they can’t let go their prides. Pride comes to the present day Christian in so many forms that if you don’t look closely enough, pride can be the main voice making all your decisions. Yes Namaan was a leper and that was his medical diagnosis, but not only was this man’s skin festering with leprous, his heart was festering with a strain of leprous called pride. This man is just like the Christian of the modern day, who misses their salvation because pride will be driving all their decisions consciously and subconsciously.
- Pride in our wealth
After namaam heard about Elisha, the prophet from Samaria who could cure him of his sickness, he rode off to see Elisha packed with riches [2 kings 5:5]. In his mind, he thought healing from God could be bought with silver and gold. He was so proud of his riches that we was certain they could buy him salvation. We often allow our worldly possessions delude us into believing that financial contribution to the church automatically cancels out all my sins. Sometimes we get to a point where we pay our tithes and offerings yet we keep sinning believing that our financial input to the church cleanses of dirty life styles. That pride in our worldly possessions lead us not closer but further from our salvation, for so expensive is our salvation that it could only the blood of Jesus Christ could afford it. We need to be vigilant so that we do not allow this dangerous pride to creep up on us, there is no substitute for prayer, we have to make time for God no matter how busy we get with our jobs and hustles among others, make time for God, never think that your money will make up for the time your aren’t prayerful. Salvation is through Christ and Christ alone.
- His ways are not our ways
Namaan burned with anger when he was told to go and wash himself 7 times in the river Jordan [2 kings 5:11]. In his mind he had imagined that Elisha will give him a VIP treatment, he probably thought that even God will be honoured to meet him. His pride made him turn around and walk away from his salvation because he could not let go of his pride-driven notion of what God should have done for him. We have to remember that God’s ways are not our ways, his thoughts are much higher than our thoughts. Going into a river and wash 7 times sounds pretty easy, but to a person who carries around a preconceived thought of how God should respond just washing so that you can cured is seemingly unimaginable. We need to let go of certain prides which hinders us from listening to instructions from God. The pride we carry in our hearts make us act like God is our servant who jumps to your every command, but that is a very dangerous way to live, because when God acts in his power, wisdom and the way he knows is best for you, your pride will make you walk away from the path to salvation.
- Pride makes you take God’s instruments for granted
In 2 kings 5:12, we see Namaan angrily defying the instruction he was given to wash in the Jordan river, in his mind Jordan was inferior and not up to his standards, he would rather wash in rivers Abana and Pharpar because they flowed water with better quality and they were greater than Jordan. This is very similar to our very lives because often times we find ourselves judging men and women raised by God to champion our path to salvation. We dismiss life changing word because we are too busy judging the preacher, comparing the preacher to some men and women of God you think are better qualified to preach. As Christians, you better know that greatest miracles usually emerge from obedience, not only obeying the word of God but also obeying the bearers of the word despite how much it will be easy to look down upon them. Namaan’s healing is rooted in the word which was brought by the slave girl from Israel, despite her social status being a slave, or her financial status or how she dressed, her words are the ones which set Namaan to his path to recovery. Same applies in our lives, let us get rid to judgmental prides and respect the instruments of God despite how they look in our eyes because God specializes with what we contain inside.
The story of Namaan ends with him being a completely healed men. Had he maintained his stance of pride he would have walked away from his salvation and went back all the way to Aram in the exact same state he left. Namaan dipped himself in water, a sign of baptism which later on represented repentance among those called to Christ, our repentance should not be only a matter of being baptized, but our actions should show that we are indeed new creatures. The word of salvation through Jesus Christ is so ubiquitous that rarely do you find a person who haven’t heard of the Jesus, but it is how you approach the Word of God which determines if it will work for you or it will be just another story about a guy who died on some cross. Let us put down our prides which hinders us from fully accepting our salvation.
