Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“But his servants approached and said to him, ‘Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, “Wash, and be clean”?’”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, January 23, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Naaman thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips, I tell you. Privilege drips off of him like the waters of all those rivers in Damascus he name-checks in the story. Grumble grumble grumble I came all this way and the prophet wouldn’t even leave his house to see me grumble grumble and I’m this big important military leader grumble and does he even know who I am grumble grumble and aren’t the rivers in my home country better than his stinking Jordan?
What Elisha asked Naaman to do wasn’t hard physically—I mean, come on, go jump in the river already! But it was hard on his pride. It required humility to simply accept the simple answer and do what had to be done.
Oh, if I had a nickel for all the times I acted just like Naaman. All the times I was bent out of shape because other people wouldn’t follow my script and do things my way. And wouldn’t everyone be a lot happier if they just did things my way??? It takes humility to set aside my will and ask God what God’s will is for me. It takes humility to do the next right action. I mean, go jump in the river already!
What am I resisting doing because of my pride?
