Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Enthusiasm”
Our Bible verse for today: “But his servants approached and said to him, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he tells you, ‘Wash and be clean?” 2 Kings 5:13 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Obedience leads to enthusiasm”
We’ve all known people who make bad choices and suffer for it. They know full well that they need to change their behavior in order for the suffering to stop, but they continue in their destructive ways anyway. It could be abuse of drugs or alcohol that is killing them but they won’t stop. It could an unhealthy lifestyle and soon their body will begin to suffer the effects of it, but they won’t improve their diet and exercise habits. Maybe poor financial habits are keeping them impoverished and in debt, but they keep spending irresponsibly anyway. Bad choices like that are unbiblical and lead to suffering and sorrow.
Living well – living Biblically – is not complicated. And really, it’s also not that hard.
Naaman was a commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a mighty man, but he developed a case of leprosy that would ultimately eat him up and kill him if something didn’t change. Long story short, he ended up standing before Elisha, a God-anointed prophet. The man of God gave him simple instructions, “Go dip yourself in the Jordan River seven times and you will be healed.” But proud Naaman was outraged. This seemed like a childish and insultingly simple thing. He had expected a stupendous miracle like flashes of lightening, peels of thunder, and an instantaneous cure. Rather than obey the Godly instruction, he stomped off in a huff.
Fortunately his servants were able to talk sense into him (2 Kings 5:13-14). He gave-in, listened to them, and wonders of wonders, he was cured just like the man of God said he would be.
Obedience isn’t that hard. Often it’s fairly simple. In the Bible God gave us boundaries within which He commands us to live. The boundaries are actually pretty wide and give us a lot of freedom and flexibility, but we do have to stay within the boundaries. When we do, we’re living in the realm where God can and will bless us. That’s the best life any of us will ever have. When we wander outside of those boundaries, we take ourselves outside of God’s blessings.
What does this have to do with our theme of enthusiasm? Let’s go back to Naaman’s story. After he had followed the simple instructions and was healed: “Then Naaman and his whole company went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “I know there’s no God in the whole world except in Israel.” (5:15)
Naaman obeyed, he was blessed, and he ended up very enthusiastic about the God of Israel. So will you. Obedience leads to enthusiasm. Identify the area of your life where you are currently not living Biblically, obey Him, receive the blessings of obedience, then watch and see what that does for your level of enthusiasm for God and for His ways.
Obedience leads to enthusiasm.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 