Servants
So often we focus on the "famous" people of scripture. The celebrities of God's word. However, there is much to be gained from an occasional peek at the NOT-so-famous, at the nameless anonymous "little-shots" of the Word. Let's take a look at some servants of scripture. It's interesting that NO one ever wants to identify with servants. Anytime someone decides to violate God's word and enter the occult by trying to determine what their "past lives" were (denying what God's word says about reincarnation, of course), they almost always turn out to be a king, or prince or princess or something powerful and famous. NO ONE seems to ever have been a street cleaner or chamber maid or horse stall sweeper or just plain servant. I think that's because we don't want to identify too closely with one's lowly in power and position. However, God has no such problem. I want us to take a look at several examples of servants in scripture. For I believe that we are quite likely to find ourselves there, to learn about ourselves in those lives. It's not often that we get to be the powerful and famous ones in our own lives, so perhaps we should see how God's own quiet "extras" lived their lives, and find insight for ourselves there.

[READ II KINGS 5:1-19] Naaman
Here, as in the other stories, it is too easy to concentrate on the "Leading Men" of this story, the characters that get Charlton Heston or Sean Connery to play them. I would like to view this story from the perspective of servants. Here is story of many different kinds of servants, of pagan servants and believing ones, of a man who seemed or acted like a servant who in fact wasn't one at all, and of a man who started out to command and became a servant instead.

5:1  Naaman! What a guy - although he probably would have taken exception to the statement that his "victories" were actually gifts from the Lord; 
after ALL the build up "...but he had leprosy"; In just FOUR horrible words, his entire life is shattered. Oh listener, SEE YOURSELF HERE! You have in this one tiny verse THE FATE OF ALL MANKIND;  herein you hear THE VERY HEART OF THE GOSPEL'S WARNING CRY TO ALL HUMANITY. Words that are almost THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD cry out to you NOW: No matter WHO you are, no matter WHAT magnificence your accomplishments can produce, WE ARE ALL DYING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO FACE DEATH - AND SOONER THAT ANY OF US WOULD CARE TO. 
Can you see the horrible mockery that Naaman's leprosy made of ALL his other accomplishments? ALL his victories, ALL his triumphs, ALL his trophies hanging on his walls and gathering dust on his shelves, ALL MOCKED by this monstrous MARK OF DEATH upon his flesh; NOWHERE could he go without seeing the pronouncement of his doom; NOWHERE could he look without knowing that SOON HE WOULD BE DEAD AND WHAT WOULD ALL HIS TRIUMPHS AND TROPHIES AND VICTORIES MEAN THEN: NOTHING. 
If ever you want to get a good feel for what Naaman must have been feeling, go to any Flea Market, the junkier the better. Look around in those dusty cobweb filled boxes and SEE the plaques, the pictures, the momentos of another man's life, gathering dust, lost of all meaning or significance; WHAT TOOK HIM A LIFETIME TO "EARN" OR ACCUMULATE, YOU CAN NOW HAVE FOR 25 CENTS A PIECE. The ONLY difference between you, me and Naaman is that WE don't have such a gross reminder of our own mortality staring back at us in the mirror; WE don't have visible marks of death slowly corroding the physical image we have come to associate with who and what we are - ignoring the SPIRIT who lives withIN that fragile so easily broken shell; 
So please, SEE yourself in this story, if YOU have nothing but your own accomplishments to comfort you in the face of your own inevitable mortality, THIS STORY IS FOR YOU. AND it's message of TRUTH was written JUST for you; 
So SIT UP, QUIT thinking about the game this afternoon, set aside your mental ramblings about those morons at work who's buffoonery YOU are going to have to go clean up after tomorrow. NOW is the TIME, HERE is the PLACE, to LISTEN and LEARN a marvelous lesson 1st learned nearly THIRTY CENTURIES ago by a man JUST LIKE YOU.

SO, after ALL the build up how does this verse end? "...but he had leprosy"; obviously Aramians did NOT follow Mosaic law about isloation and quarantine; Here was a man who COMMANDED, his ONLY master was the King himself, and no one else. His King we know from Biblical and archeological records was Ben-Hadad II, who ruled 19 years from 860-819 BC. Do NOT mistake Naaman for another Shwartzkoff or Colin Powell.  HE WAS A WAR-LORD. A man used to total victory and absolute control...but NOW? A slave indeed, a slave to a terrible disease, one that would not hear his orders, one that would not obey his commands, one that was slowly destroying him, one piece at a time, taking away from him the one thing he must have truly desired, the one thing he may have really believed in: his control over his own life. A disease was reducing this second most powerful man in his world into nothing. A disease that had NO cure EVER in the history of humanity: a living death sentence. 
BUT, was this the ONLY enslavement of Naaman? NO. Who was his god? [Hadad-Rimmon, a god of rain and thunder] Naaman worshipped a dead demonic god. His flesh may have been dying, but Naaman was ALREADY DEAD: SPIRITUALLY DEAD. 
Hear dear listener! Do my bleak words about physical mortality depress you? Leave you squirming in your seat, wondering when this clown in the pulpit was gonna get done? If you fear the physical end of all humanity, especially YOUR OWN particularly small part of it, HOW MUCH WORSE SHOULD YOU FEAR SPIRITUAL DEATH? A DEATH IN WHICH YOU ARE ALREADY HELD CAPTIVE - A DEATH THAT ALREADY ENSLAVES YOU??
For you see, EVEN BEFORE his tragic diagnosis, and for ALL his uncontested authority and personal power, Naaman was as enslaved as any man without God can be, regardless of his "position" in his world. Slavery is NOT about social position or rank, it's about WHO DO YOU SERVE? Make NO mistake, just like Naaman, YOU ARE GOING TO SERVE SOMEONE, THE ONLY REAL ISSUE IS WHO?? 
5:2-3  In spite of this terrible fate, did he take it out on those around him? Apparently NOT; he must have been a good man for a captive slave to desire HIS healing; 
And NOW we meet the SECOND servant in this story. 
What kind of servant was she? SHE WAS A CAPTIVE. Did she have any reason to be kind to or desire good for her enslavers? NO! BUT I believe that SHE was a truly GODLY servant who desired to honor God by and through her servant-hood of excellence; I think her behavior reveals that she was a servant who trusted God, who believed in Him. She was a servant who was willing to tell about her God. She would know the story of Joseph, a captive-slave, too. A man who was able to tell the brothers who had sold him: YOU meant it for evil, BUT GOD meant it for GOOD [ASK THEM IF THEY REMEMBER JOSEPH?]
Another quality revealed about her was that SHE didn't hedge her bets - it was NOT "IF you find him, he MIGHT be able to help you", or "MAYBE he, y'know, MIGHT COULD help you...", 
NO!! It was "IF You SEEK Him, He WILL HEAL You";
It was "WHEN You FIND Him, He CAN Heal You". 
NO room to maneuver, NOT like the prophets of other gods who HAVE to sort of "hedge" a bit - even today they DARE not commit themselves OR their gods; Her simple testimony to her captors showed that HER God had NO limits - not EVEN leprosy.
We cannot make God do what WE want, BUT we CAN declare ABSOLUTE truth about Him! So TODAY, dear listener, I can and do declare this to you:
IF YOU SEEK HIM, HE WILL SAVE YOU!!
One of the most powerful scenes in the modern version of The Last of The Moheakans was the scene when the hero has to leave his true love to certain capture by a terrible dreaded enemy. His last words to her before he has to leave her to her fate, his voice hoarse with desperation, his almost terrible declaration to her: He cries out to her: NO MATTER WHAT, DO NOT GIVE UP!!! I WILL SEARCH FOR YOU! I WILL FIND YOU!! And it is the utter certainty of his vow that sustains her in the adversity of her captivity; it is the power of his WILL DRIVEN BY THE ABSOLUTENESS OF HIS LOVE FOR HER THAT MAKES OF HIM AN UNSTOPPABLE IMPLACABLE RELENTLESS HUNTER; HE NEITHER STOPS TO EAT NOR IS TURNED AWAY BY ANY OBSTACLE - HE IS CONSUMED BY ONE PASSION AND ONE ALONE: TO FIND THE ONE HE LOVES AND RESCUE HER FROM HER FATE. 
Dear listener, the Living God, the God of this precious nameless servant girl is more compelled that even this fictitious character of film. The Living God makes THIS guy look like a SLACKER. 
Now, did she demand reward for her information? NO! Did she try to barter with her info? NO! [*note* ASK THEM: WHAT HAPPENED TO HER AFTER ALL THIS? Naaman NEVER released her for her kindness in leading him to his healing/cleansing!] WHO ultimately received the glory because of her? God. Do we ever learn her name? NO! Yet withOUT her willing spirit to tell WHAT SHE KNEW about HER GOD, NONE of this would have happened, Naaman would have died a miserable lingering death, lost in his Spiritual death, as well. Though she remained nameless, SEE the impact her willingness to serve had upon her Boss, AND an ENTIRE NATION. HOW OFTEN we underestimate the importance of our own nameless, UNglorious testimony to others. What encouragement we can draw from this! NO opportunity to simply tell what you know your God can do will EVER be wasted; 

Obviously the Arameans had never heard of Elisha or of his "power";

5:4-6  That's 750 POUNDS of silver and 150 POUNDS of gold, folks! The king highly prized Naaman and figured all that loot was a small price to pay indeed on such a wild gamble as this; No WONDER Naaman held his king in such affection as we will read about at the end of this amazing account.
note: No Hebrew lepers were EVER healed!! ALAS! What a bitter proof of their national lack of faith! THEY had the WORD of God as WRITTEN testimony! They had the PROPHET of God as LIVING testimony! AND YET THEY WERE BLIND TO WHO GOD IS! They DID NOT experience for themselves the MARVELS of God at work in THEM. WE ARE NOT IMMUNE TO THIS BLINDNESS! 

Naaman must have figured he had nothing to lose - he was WRONG of course...there was his PRIDE still left to lose...AND his enslavement to a false god, too!  
5:6  Maybe the King of Israel was right in his suspicion that Aram's King just saw another opportunity to pick a fight; on the slight hope that Naaman would be healed, he sent him; But then maybe figured "Oh well, it's pretty unlikely, but it can't hurt Naaman AND I'll at LEAST get a chance to go to war w/ Israel if all else fails..."; either way, the Aramean King wins! pretty crafty guy!
5:7  What utter blindness! Oh sure the letter directs him to "do" the healing, but all the Godly people in this time always took the impossible problems to the Lord WHO ALWAYS ANSWERED! HOW TERRIBLE FOR A NATION WHEN SLAVES AND SERVANTS KNOW MORE OF GOD AND HIS POWER THAN THEIR KING! 
5:8  How did Elisha always "hear" the latest news at Court?? HERE we meet the THIRD servant in this story, the most OBSCURE one of ALL. Elisha was NOT a welcome guest at King Joram's palace! He was NOT gonna hear this himSELF. Here we have another example of someone willing to be a servant of the Lord. Clearly God had placed a Godly unknown and unheralded person there to keep Elisha up-to-date; What a risk! God's SPY!? Are WE willing to take such a risk? To be faithful to the Lord, even in a hostile place? 
A bit of a poke at the king - "well, send him here and at least HE'LL know there's a real prophet in Israel"; ie "since YOU clearly do NOT know this...!"

5:8 Picture the glittering scene of barbaric war-like splendor, the sun reflected off the polished armour like from many diamonds; the bright banners snapping in the wind; 
You need to realize that in those days stealth was NOT the preferred technology; the greater the leader, the brighter and more glorious his apparel - 1ST so his scattered armies could ALWAYS see him even at a distance and be able to rally to him even in the greatest confusion in battle and fog of war; 2ND, so he could awe and humble his enemies (as if to say: Here I am, come and take your best shot!) 
Naaman was THE ultimate warrior of his nation; See with me the prancing horses, hear for even a moment the jangle and clinking of armor against armor, the creaking of leather clothing and harnesses; the smells of the leather and horses and sweat - the sounds and smells of PROFESSIONAL men of war...
What a glorious sight Naaman and his military retinue must have made! Here we see the very model of a proud military man who knows his own abilities, battle tested, unafraid even of this horrible wasting disease, ready to face off, AS AN EQUAL w/ this powerful prophet - He arrives in a manner as if to say I AM A SLAVE TO NO MAN, NOT EVEN THE ONE GUY WHO JUST MIGHT SAVE MY LIFE; [contrast him to the Centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant...] 
5:10-11 NOW imagine Naaman's horror and indignation at his very...eh...unusual and er...irregular reception by God's man! Elisha didn't even come to the door himself, sending only a messenger to essentially tell Naaman: Go jump in the River - SEVEN times. 
Please understand! God did NOT slam Naaman for his pride, BUT He DID require that he drop it in the river in order to receive His gift for him; This was the FIRST step for Naaman's deliverance from much MORE than just his leprosy; 
Note how Naaman does not even refer to himself by saying "...and heal ME", rather he says "...heal "THE" leper". I believe that Naaman was so disgusted with his condition and already humiliated with having to come seek help from someone else, ESP a foreigner claiming power from a foreign God, I can almost hear the grinding self-contempt in his voice. Why doesn't this Prophet come out and put on the same kind of humiliating self-glorifying carnival side-show act he perhaps ALREADY had suffered at the hands of his false gods and their prophets - "Go AHEAD!", I can hear him rage, "WAVE your arms around and say you're gonna HEAL the PATHETIC LEPER". I believe that we now begin to see another side of this "all powerful" warlord. The armor has slipped a bit, now, no longer so all confident; perhaps the effects of his slow debilitating death are now breaking through. People do not change - no matter WHAT his victorious past, he was now "The Leper" to EVERYone; You know how it is, we all tend to do it - refer to people by some dramatic stigma - so, instead of Naaman being, "Naaman the Commanding General" or "Naaman the Conqueror", he was now reduced to a humiliating "Naaman THE LEPER" - having heard is SO often now, even HE was saying it - and hating it...
THIS is a man who THOUGHT that he had come to the end of himself, only to discover that the TRUE God has not yet given up on him, EVEN THOUGH He would ask Naaman to submit to HIS rules, to HIS will, to HIS plan; 
5:12  note, In his rage, see how Naaman wrestles with the Will and Purpose of the Living GOD: Naaman indignantly wants to know why HIS rivers wouldn't do (how often men ask this still!)...an analogy of the inadequancies of other men's religions, of the incompatability of other false religions w/ God's true worship! 
Oh listener, is THIS your complaint with the Gospel of the Living God? Is THIS where you falter and stumble when you hear of God's Salvation Plan for you through a helpless acceptance of Jesus Christ as your Savior? Do you with Naaman shout angrily, HEY! What's so wrong with MY plan, with MY life that I should have to do something that I DO NOT UNDERSTAND and maybe find just a LITTLE BIT EMBARRASING? What's so wrong with MY religion, with MY plan to get into heaven?? Don't you give ME any crummy confession, admission of guilt, unearned grace, faith only in Him story. MY way should be JUST FINE with God!! 
AND YET, IT IS NOT!! AND YET, YOUR WAY CANNOT SAVE YOU, IT CANNOT DELIVER YOU FROM EITHER YOUR PHYSICAL MORTALITY NOR YOUR SPIRITUAL ENSLAVEMENT! And so, what can?
And what of YOU, Dear Believer? Now that your eternal destiny is certain and death no longer holds it's terrible fearsome sway over you, DO YOU wrestle with God's current Plan for your LIFE? Do you find it too puzzling? Too lowly and unexalted? Is it not "worthy" of you? Does it frighten or worry you? Oh come and see again just WHO the God of your salvation and NEW LIFE IS, come see again the One Whom you had once put your hope and confidence in and EVEN NOW can do so AGAIN, and even NOW rediscover that peace that passes ALL understanding EVEN amidst the current uncertainty of your life.
Come NOW and SEE what Naaman learned:
Naaman ALSO did not understand the God Who was going to heal him; He did not realize that MORE than his HEALTH was at stake here; It was his ETERNAL DESTINY hanging in the balance; 
We have GOT to understand: the RIVER was NOT going to get him healed, it was OBEDIENCE to God's commands that would save him and that ALONE; 

5:13  Here we see the FOURTH nameless servant! How precious is a wise servant! How wise it is to heed their advice! Note: "My father..." perhaps a desire to express their true love for the man, in order to better persuade him to do this! 
Only the humble can appreciate how little a thing pride is compared to what really matters; it took servants, men stripped of pride to see the value in giving up pride in order to gain something infinitely more valuable; perhaps this is one reason why Jesus' Gospel is so more greatly received by the meek and lowly and humble than by the high and mighty...they are so much more experienced at receiving grace than in giving it;  

What an example to US as the servants or employees of other men (perhaps pagan men) how easy it would have been to have just sat back and let him do whatever he wanted, after all, it's not as if it were their/our problem - why run the risk of increasing his already fired up wrath and then focusing it upon ourselves?? REMEMBER, this guy KILLS people for a living!! 
But as Godly servants, I believe God's Word here tells us that our calling is to always seek our bosses best good - to seek the honest success of those that God has placed in authority over us - remember Joseph?? Everything he DID prospered his pagan masters. 
Well, these servants were faithful to their master and wisely encouraged him to do the right thing! And there's no evidence that THEY were even Godly men. How bitter an indictment to us as Christian employees that PAGAN men should be BETTER servants than our SELVES! 
5:14 AGAIN I am taken by what an interesting man Naaman is - near absolute ruler, certainly possesses a most complete and profound power over all he has, and yet, in spite of his rage, he is approachable AND he listens, even to the lowly that serve him; I tell you as a man who has followed the Profession of Arms for nearly twenty years and has worked for my fair share of commanders, it is NO wonder that Naaman seems to inspire such love and devotion from his own slaves; 

There is NO evidence in the text that this cleansing was either gradual or progressive, Naaman apparently was just as leprous when he went down for the 7th time as he was when he first walked into the river, and yet, he too understand obedience. Once committed, he did it all w/o any further questions, and when he rose up the 7th and last time, God did NOT just give him his OLD skin back, battered and battle-scarred and burnt by countless days under the scorching desert sun, NO, Naaman had the skin of a young boy - God NEVER settles for HALF measures; 
AND the result was even more impressive to a pagan like Naaman - withOUT the usual pagan fanfare and by LONG-distance yet, Elisha brought healing of an impossibly incurable disease!

BUT WAIT, THIS was NOT the ONLY miracle that happened in that muddy river water that day; Naaman wasn't just physically healed, he was totally and utterly transformed and renewed INSIDE, IN HIS SPIRIT!

5:15  NAAMAN'S DECLARATION
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO NAAMAN? [NOT just "healed", NOT just saved from a lingering death! NO! HE HAS BEEN SAVED ETERNALLY!] WHAT HAS HE BECOME? [A SERVANT OF THE LIVING GOD!] 
He could have left right from the river to go home, after all, he HAD what he had ORIGINALLY come for. But he was able to see beyond the gift to the Divine Giver. Because of the tremendous value of the gift, he realized that the healing was NOT in the RIVER of the Prophet, nor was it was in the POWER of the prophet himself. It was ALL to be found in the GOD of the prophet! That's what salvation is like: God ALWAYS gives us more than we ever could expect; 
BUT there's MORE. He could have gone back to Elisha ALONE, IN SECRET, but NOT our man Naaman! He had always led his men before; he had led them into battle and into death w/o flinching or hesitation, and NOW he is determined to lead his men into life and salvation as well - even unto declaring himself PUBLICALLY a believer in and a SERVANT of a foreign God! 
He made sure there was NO doubt in ANYONE'S mind, including his King's, as to WHO he would now worship, no matter the cost; Naaman was able to see how BIG his new-found God is - having been cleansed of much, he was able to see much - he was able to see just how BIG God is, a God over ALL the world! Even over his OWN former national gods; 
5:16 HERE we see God's PROTOTYPE of a faithful servant. Elisha wants to insure that there is no confusion or question as to God's motivation, or as to the character of the servant of God which is a direct reflection ON God's character; perhaps, too, Elisha wanted to impress upon Naaman that he could NEVER "pay back" the debt he owed God for his cleansing/salvation; 

5:17 NAAMAN'S DESIRE
OK, OK, so Naaman's a NEW servant of God, and new in his understanding of his new God and Lord. Pagans often believed that a god could only be worshipped on "his own" soil, so he wants somehow in his still new understanding of his new God, to do the right thing, his hearts 1st and immediate desire is to honor and please his saving God; what a servant! There is no hesitation in him, no half measures for him! No sharing his worship/commitment - it is ALL God and nothing left for his old gods - Oh that Israel could see that! OH, that WE would live our lives in such a way!! Servants of such commitment!

5:18 NAAMAN'S DILEMMA 
Poor Naaman, he is a servant of deep and intense loyalty; although he will always honor God, he does not wish to dishonor his king. For the King to have him arm-in-arm can be the kings way of constantly re-affirming to his people his absolute confidence and reliance upon his #1 man: Naaman! It was a political statement and it was meant to honor Naaman and Naaman KNEW that; AND his so joining his King was a public re-affirmation of HIS loyalty TO the King; 
Sure, there are a dozen other better alternatives to Naaman's request - see Daniel's method; and yet remember, Naaman has only been a believer for a few hours and he has NEVER had teaching concerning his new God; all he knows is that he doesn't want to be/act disloyal to his king and yet he still wants to publicly proclaim before his own men, before his ENTIRE NATION, that no matter what they may see, he is SOLD OUT to God, his heart is totally given over to Him; he wants to insure they know his heart; 
See this at the end of the verse! he already knows his new God of salvation is a forgiving God! an understanding God! 
5:19 How does Elisha react? w/ accusations and tirades about mixing pagan worship w/ true? NO, he saves that for men who should (AND DO) KNOW better; But for innocent still naive Naaman, UNDERSTAND, does NOT he tell him "oh, that's OK, go ahead". BUT he does tell him he can go in peace. How strange to see the Bible scholars squirm uncomfortably w/ this one - some insisting Elisha just dodged the issue and that v19 was just the local equivalent of saying: "Have a nice trip..."  ?? WHAT?? ELISHA "DODGE" SOMETHING?? Or ANYthing?? 
WHY do they find it hard to imagine (or are they unable to see?) that a child can only shoulder so much burden and no more, that God is patient w/ those who do truly want to honor Him even if imperfectly at 1st; that He can "let" someone "go in peace" until they grow into a more complete understanding?
I believe that Elisha is secure in the knowledge that God will continue to grow and mature Naaman's understanding and faith, but that for NOW what Naaman is trying to do in his imperfect knowledge is enough. 
The curses of God's prophet's are reserved for that tragic generation that should have known better, that DID know better, but then refused to do right; 

5:20 And NOW we come to the LAST servant in this story. Oh Gehazi! what a perfect contrast between the one who HAD all the advantages and training and did know better and the new convert, eager for any chance to obey; What a tragic contrast between the PSEUDO-servant and the TRUE servant! Naaman who, though lost, was good on the inside but corrupted by disease on the outside VS Gehazi who, though supposedly saved, was corrupted on the inside and only superficially "good" on the outside; 
WHO WAS THE TRUE SERVANT? And what about US? Oh listener, are you counting on being a "member" of a Church or some other religious thing, a Gehazi-like servant, to be your assurance of salvation? It's NOT who YOU work for, but WHO'S WORKING in YOU that will determine your eternal state; 
Oh fellow believer, we are NOT immune to the traps and snares of the world, just because we know the God of Elisha; Gehazi saw Elisha refuse a fortune and he resented it - Why should HE remain POOR just because ELISHA didn't want that stuff? Gehazi was UNwilling to accept this aspect of God's plan for him - a plan that did NOT include Naaman's reward, a plan that did NOT include Gehazi getting what HE wanted; 
So here we go into this tragic epilog of this amazing story of deliverance and salvation
5:21  leave it to the military man to want to know that everything was "all right". Please understand what Naaman must have already considered: An already UNpopular Prophet has JUST HEALED the greatest general the King of Aram has ever had; an Enemy of the King of Israel; So you have to appreciate Naaman's concern for the physical well-being of Elisha.
5:22  Gehazi's 1ST lie - to Naaman
5:23-24  the "getaway"
5:25 Gehazi's 2ND lie - to Elisha; what a sad and bitter truth! Naaman's pagan servants were better and more true to their master than this supposedly "saved" servant was to God's own prophet! a warning to us ALL who would be servants!
5:26  the truth! you can't hide sin from the Lord, alas, He sees us all! the issue was NOT the $'s, but rather the possible compromise of God's character, the 2andary confusion created for others about WHO God is and what kind of God He is; 
I so OFTEN see myself doing this at times, creating confusion because of my failed and flawed servantship; 
5:27  and NOW, the corruption that before was hidden, now is revealed; what was inside is now also outside; Gehazi NEVER repents of his actions, he NEVER seeks forgiveness from a forgiving God; He TAKES THE MONEY AND GOES! How SAD! He'd apparently rather be a rich leper than a Godly servant. Oh HOW OFTEN do we make the SAME decisions? Willing to settle for less than what God would have for us, because we can't let go of the seductive deceptive "treasures" of the world - treasures that will neither endure, nor can save us in the day of our deepest need.

We never hear from Naaman again...but you know what? After ALL that miraculous healing, NAAMAN STILL DIED. If God had only healed him of his physical infirmity, Naaman would have lived some more years and then he would have DIED ANYWAY, BUT THEN HE WOULD HAVE BEEN LOST FOR ALL ETERNITY WITHOUT THE LIVING GOD. 
BUT what about US? Certainly EACH of us can find ourselves amongst these various servants in 2 Kings 5. Which are YOU? And MORE importantly, WHICH do you want to BECOME? NOW is the time, HERE is the place to decide. Learn from Gods Word about the life of this man, whose very bones have been dust for these thousands of years and yet NOW LIVES FOREVER with the Living God, because a nameless slave girl was willing to tell what she knew about the God of HER salvation. 
Discover the truth that ALL of us are servants of SOMEONE, of SOMETHING - either DEAD lifeless gods of material gain or power or that most brief and fragile thing of all: human recognition, gods who can neither heal you of your deepest wounds or save you from the life you now live, or the death that we ALL must someday face, 
OR 
You can become a servant of the LIVING God Who heals and even MORE, can TRANSFORM us from the spiritually DEAD into the Eternally LIVING, "healed", if you will, of that most dreadful and fatal condition of ALL: Our SIN NATURE that would separate ALL humanity from Him. 
Naaman understood the REAL lesson to be found in that muddy Jordan River - NOT that there was some sort of powerful prophet in Israel BUT THAT in Israel he discovered THAT THERE WAS A GOD, A LIVING GOD OVER ALL CREATION. And that HE, NAAMAN, having MET with that God, HAD to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT TRUTH - he could no longer go back to WHO he was or WHAT he had been - having SEEN the power of this Living God, he knew NO OTHER God would EVER AGAIN SUFFICE, would or could EVER COMPARE. It is my deepest desire that we too here today would hear and learn that lesson for ourselves.
Servants - Naaman

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