Christian Devotional – August 23, 2016

Read 2 Kings chapter 5

VERSE:

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.”

TRUTH:

Pride and entitlement can be very ugly things to see in people. Couple those with unmet expectations and you have one very unhappy individual indeed. Naaman had a sense of pride and arrogance in himself. He thought he was something. He thought that because of who he was and what he had done, he was entitled to certain levels of respect. He thought those had been violated by Elisha and he was mad. Do we feel that we are entitled to certain things from others. We will never be truly happy while we are waiting for others to live up to the expectations that we have placed on them because of our pride. For Naaman, he also had built up in his mind exactly how his encounter with the prophet of God was supposed to go. He knew how he should have been healed and when it didn’t happen that way, he was upset. He felt he was entitled to more. Do we feel that we are entitled to certain or particular treatment? Do we get angry when God doesn’t move in exactly the way that we thought He should. We must confess our pride and repent and become humble and obedient.

RESPONSE:

Father, I have a lot of pride sometimes about certain things. I know that I have nothing to boast in except You. I will humble myself, so that You do not have to do it for me. Forgive me for all that I have done and I pray that You will restore my relationship with You on the correct terms, You as master and me as servant. You as Father, me as obedient child.