09Nov16

2 Kings 5:11
"But Naaman went away angry and said, 'I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.'"

When I was a teenager in Alaska it came time to get my own job. My father was the District manager for Kmart (the only store in our tiny town) and I thought, "no problem, I'll go in there and get a job and make bank." When I put in my application I thought I had a sure thing going. Then days went by without a cal. Weeks went by without a call. When I realized that I wasn't going to get the job I went to my dad and asked him why I didn't get the job. His response was, "they're not hiring and you have no experience." I thought to myself, "But, I am your son! I deserve this! It's my birthright!" But, I was so wrong. Entitlement encompasses two attitudes: (1) I am exempt from responsibility, and (2) I am owed special treatment. In other words, I don't have to carry my own burdens, and I should be treated differently. Naaman (you should stop and read the whole passage in 2 Kings 5) presents both of these characteristics in his response. First, in Naaman's mind, he was owed special treatment or at least a proper acknowledgment. Second, Naaman felt that he should be exempt from responsibility. He didn't want the responsibility to follow the prophets' orders by washing in the river. He thought he was special because of his position in the Roman army.

It took me a minute to figure it out, and I still battle the urge to deny, that I deserve... nothing. I have to come to grips with the fact that I know me. I know my faults, my failures, and my sin better than anyone else. I know that; and because I know that I am able to win or lose without feeling anger toward my opponent. I recognize that it is God who has graciously given me all I have. My first job was not Kmart. My first job was a grill cook at the only fast food restaurant in town... McDonalds. I loved it, learned a lot, and worked hard for the money that came with it. But, I deserved nothing. I deserve nothing. What do you think you deserve that may be causing anger to well up in your heart? What is, like Naaman, stopping you from being healed?