Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 5

Naaman was captain of Syria's army. He was very good at his job, and a very valient soldier, who had earned a lot of notoriety. But, he had leprosy.

Naaman had a wife, too. His wife had a servant who was an Israelite. One day, the servant/handmaid said, "If Naaman were in Israel, he could see a man of God who would get rid of his leprosy."

Well, someone overheard her tell Naaman's wife that, and went and told Naaman. So Naamen went to Israel with a translater and went to see the King of Israel. When the King of Israel got the letter from his servant, telling him why he was there, the King rent his clothes and angrily said, "Yeah, right. Like I can heal leprosy! He is trying to start a war with me!"

Elisha heard what was going on, and told the king to send Naaman to him. So, Naaman went to see Elisha. Elisha then told Naaman to go and wash himself seven times in the Jordan river and the leprosy would be healed. This made Naaman mad. "I could have washed in any of the rivers at home! Why is he telling me to do this? This is stupid!" And he started to travel home.

But, Naaman's servant stopped him and said, "If he asked you to do something harder, would you do it? All you gotta do is do what he says. It's worth a try!" So, Naaman calmed himself down and went and did it, and was healed.

Naaman was so happy he offered to pay Elisha with silver or cattle. Elisha refused, saying he would not take credit for what God had done. So, Naaman started toward home, still happy.

Gehaza, Elisha's servant, thought to himself, "If Elisha doesn't want the money, I do." So, he caught up with Naaman, and told him, "Over there are two prophets that are just coming. Elisha said maybe you should give the money to them. Give it to me, and I'll make sure they get it." Naaman did, happily.

When Gehaza got back, Elisha asked, "Where have you been?"

"No where," was Gehaza's answer. But Elisha said, "Gehaza, I know what you did and it was WRONG. And, because it was wrong, you and your family will be cursed and you will carry the leprosy that Naaman lost."

So, Gehaza became a leper.

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You might think you are being sneaky about sinning, but you should never forget that God sees everything. Whatever you try to hide, God will bring out in the open, and you will have to suffer the consequences.

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