When You Have Everything, but...

(Big lessons from a Little Maid)
Now 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. 2Kings 5:1

Naaman had everything going for him. He was a very important man. But... he had a BIG problem. In spite of all that he was, he wasn't happy. He was a leper! He had the dreaded disease—leprosy.

Why was leprosy so bad?

Leprosy makes you unclean.

Leprosy makes you look horrible.

Leprosy begins small but always spreads.

Leprosy defiles everything that it touches.

Leprosy isolates you.

Leprosy eventually kills you.

No wonder Naaman wasn't happy! What good does it do you to have everything in the world if you're a leper?
 

Did you know that you have a problem similar to Naaman? You may have everything, you may be popular, you may be pretty, you may be talented, but you're still not happy. You're not happy because you're a sinner. You have the dreaded disease—sin! Not a skin disease but a soul disease.

Sin does the same damage that leprosy does.

Sin makes you unclean in God's sight.

Sin makes you into a horrible person.

Sin has never made a person more attractive. Sin is ugly and it makes you ugly.

Sin starts off small, but always spreads. 

There is no sin that will satisfy you. Sin will take you farther than you want to go. Sin spreads.

Sin ruins everything that it touches.

It ruins relationships, marriages, families, purity, reputations, dreams, careers etc.

Sin isolates.

Sin separates us from God. But it can also bring us loneliness. Remember the story of the prodigal son? When he had lots of money, he had lots of friends, but when his money ran out, his friends disappeared.

Sin kills.

It's because of sin that we have to die physically. Its sin that takes us to hell.

No wonder we're not happy! No matter what we have or who we are, we can never be truly happy while we have this dreadful disease.

There was only one hope for Naaman and there is only one hope for us—God.

Though only God could heal him, he still had to do something. He had to go find the prophet and he had to obey the prophet's command. He had to seek and obey. It didn't happen while he was sitting at home moaning and groaning about his leprosy. And even though only God can save us, there is something we need to do. The Bible teaches us to “Seek the Lord.” We need to look for the answers and then we need to believe and obey the answers that God gives us.

What Naaman had to do was very simple—wash in the river 7 times. What we have to do is simple—repent and believe the gospel.

What Naaman had to do was humilating! That's why he refused to do it at first. And salvation for us is humbling, too! We have to face the fact that we are sinners and that our ways are wrong and God's ways are right. We have to face the fact that we cannot save ourself.

Naaman became a changed man.

His ugly skin became like the skin of a little child—brand new. He also started to worship God instead of idols. And so, when we are saved, we are made clean! We don't become perfect but we begin to love God and follow Him. The Bible says,
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 

Naaman became a thankful man.

He went back to the prophet's house to thank Him. The prophet told him to thank God, since it was God who healed him. When we are saved, we should never stop thanking God! Never forget that it was Him who saved you! Without Him you had no hope.