Naaman’s Faith
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Naaman’s Faith is an eight-day devotional, which serves as an introduction to the “Faith Series” devotionals. Each of my devotionals can be read as a standalone book, but I initially wrote this shorter devotional to give away as a sample of my writing.
In this book, I utilized biblical fiction from the perspective of the orphaned Israelite maid. Her parents may have been killed, as she was taken captive by the Syrians, yet it was her who pointed Naaman to the God of Israel, who gave Naaman both physical and spiritual healing.
Get your free e-book version now, have your heart touched, and your own Christian faith revived as you follow Naaman’s remarkable healing.
What Readers’ Are Saying About Naaman’s Faith
Her engaging breakdown of the events that actually unfolded in Scripture take you on the journey to listen, observe, and see exactly what was recorded in History. You end up at a place of modern day application that is more delightful every time you read it.
~CS from Nevada
I didn’t know Naaman’s story, and learned so much from this author and her insight into this short scripture story: how God calls the most unlikely (a young child) to step out in faith, and a powerful doubting leader being brought to the One True God in this amazing story. I will never forget Naaman.
~ Willo from California
Below is the first chapter of Naaman’s Faith. I hope you will enjoy it!
Naaman’s Faith
Day 1-Introducing Naaman
Bible Reading: 2 Kings 5:1
“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.” (KJV)
Bible Lesson
This chapter introduces Naaman the Syrian. He was the captain of the Syrian king’s army, a powerful soldier, and a decorated war hero. His name means “pleasant, delightful, well-formed,” which gives the impression that he was handsome.
Naaman earned respect and fame because the Lord used him to help Syria win a particular battle, though the Bible does not tell us which battle Syria was in when Naaman got the victory for his country. However, according to ancient Jewish tradition (but with no biblical proof), Naaman was the “certain man” who killed Israel’s King Ahab when the kings of Israel and Judah teamed up to go to war against the Syrians (1 Kings 22).
But after this impressive resume of Captain Naaman comes the surprise close—Naaman had the incurable, progressive, and contagious disease of leprosy. This strong, talented, decorated battle captain, in the prime of his life, could do nothing against the unseen enemy that was making him weaker, disfiguring his good looks, separating him from society, and threatening to eventually kill him.
Memories from the Little Maid
I lived with my father and mother in a city in Israel. My merchant father often traveled to our capital city, Samaria. I will never forget the one time when he took me with him. On that trip, I accidentally fell into a busy city street and my leg was crushed under a chariot wheel. I passed out from the pain, but I was told later that a strange man, a prophet of God, made his way through the crowd and carried me to his house. There, he prayed to his God, and God made my leg whole again.
When we returned home, my father got rid of all the idols in our home and resolved that he and his family would only pray to the God of the prophet. I never knew the man’s name; we just called him “the prophet.” My father often repeated the story, always giving praise for my healing to the God of the prophet.
My father spent time with the local priests of our city to learn about the laws of God from ancient writings of other prophets of Jehovah God. All that he learned, he both practiced and taught me.
Digging Deeper
Leprosy was the scourge of Naaman’s time. It is also a picture of the disease of sin. Lepers, called “the walking dead,” evoked fear, dread, and revulsion.
The disease usually starts with pain, quickly followed by numbness. As the disease progresses, spots in the skin become dirty sores and ulcers. Facial skin becomes both deeply furrowed and grotesquely swollen, making the person appear similar to a mangled wild beast. Their fingers and toes either drop off or are absorbed by the progressive swelling. Their voices become hoarse as the disease infects their vocal cords. Lepers were driven from society because this debilitating disease was contagious.
Like leprosy, sin starts inside the body, in the heart of man, and then it shows on the outside in a person’s actions. God says the “heart is desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). As sin advances, it numbs the individual to its evil effects, while it corrupts and defiles both the person and others. Sin, like leprosy, is contagious. And like leprosy, the disease of sin leads to death. Sin is the cause of physical death and spiritual death—eternal separation from God in hell. Even while people are physically alive, their sin makes them dead spiritually and separates them from a holy God.
Many times, we admire people who seem to have everything going for themselves. They appear to have perfect lives, good looks, money, fame, strength, and health. Yet, like Naaman, all people, no matter how they see themselves or how others envy them, have great need because of the disease of sin.
The good news is that God freely offers each person the cure for this disease, and He gives them their entire lifetime to accept this great gift. The only cure for mankind’s sin problem is the sinless blood of Jesus Christ, which makes one accepted and welcomed by a holy God (1 Peter 1:18–19).
If you have already received this great gift, thank God for it. You have peace with God and eternity to look forward to in heaven. But for all those who have not received this great gift (despite all the goodies that they may have and enjoy in this present life), if they don’t receive God’s gift to cure their sin problem, they face an eternity in hell (Romans 6:23). This life, as long and as good as it may be, is nothing when compared to eternity.
The Bible reading verse for today also shows us that God has His hand in the political realm, and He uses people for His purposes, even sometimes to judge His own people. Just because God uses a person does not mean that particular person has a personal relationship with Him. Every person is His creation, and He can do with them what He desires. God has placed the men and women who help govern countries and make laws in their respective positions, whether they ever acknowledge Him or not.
God Says
1 Kings 22:34 A certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel [Ahab] between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded. (KJV)
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (KJV)
Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.(KJV)
Hebrews 9:27 As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (KJV)
1 Peter 1:18–19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (KJV)
Personal Prayer
Dear heavenly Father, I cannot thank You enough for Your provision of salvation, of eternal life, and of everlasting joy. I admit that sometimes, among the many cares I have in this present world, I take Your most wonderful gift for granted. But then I stop to consider that because of Your love, Your foresight, and Your mercy and grace, my life here on earth is simply a beginning. After I leave this world, and because I accepted Your great gift of salvation, I will live and rejoice with You in a far greater way than I can even begin to imagine. So help me now to invest my time by sharing the knowledge and the invitation of Your salvation to as many others as I can, so that they, too, can enjoy Your wonderful joys for all eternity. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.
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