What are you willing to do for things to be better in your life?
That's a key question we often confront.
Let's say you want to lose some weight. Ok. There are weight loss programs that work but each requires changing our eating habits. Are we willing to do that?
Or, let's say we want to get a second degree. There are plenty of opportunities for getting the degree but each one requires time on our part. Are we willing to invest that time?
Again, what are we willing to do to make things better in our lives?
There is a story in the Bible of a man named Naaman. He was an important man - he was the king of Aram's army. The Bible says that Naaman was a great warrior. He was probably a well respeced man. In today's vernacular, Naaman was "the man."
But he had one problem and it was pretty significant; Naaman had leprosy.
On one ocassion, the Aramean army had gone out on a raid and had taken captive a girl from Israel. She was then made a slave for Naaman's wife.
She told "Mrs. Naaman" that there was a prophet in Israel (Elisha) who could heal Naaman of his leprosy. "Mrs. Naaman" passed that along to her husband who in turn told the king of Aram.
The king wanted to take care of Naaman because he was such a great warrior. So the king gave Naaman permission to go to Israel to be healed.
Upon arriving in Israel and meeting Elisha, Naaman was told to dip seven times in the water of the river Jordan and he would be healed. Upon hearing this, Naaman was furious. He was so furious, he turned to walk away from Elisha.
Why was he so angry? It was becuase he felt if simply dipping in water seven times would heal you, why couldn't he have done that in his homeland as opposed to coming to Israel. But I think there may have been another reason.
Naaman may have wanted to make a big deal out of his being healed. Dipping in the waters of the river Jordan wasn't as glamorous as what Naaman had in mind.
But one of his servants spoke to him and calmed him down and reasoned with him. Finally, Naaman realized his pride was about to get the best of him and he followed Elisha's counsel and dipped himself seven times in the waters of the Jordan. Upon doing so, Naaman was healed.
What do we learn from this story?
We learn that pride almost prevented Naaman from being healed.
If we are not careful, pride can prevent us from doing some things that we need to do.
Proverbs 16:18 says "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. "
Today, be careful and don't let pride prevent you from asking forgiveness, or granting forgiveness or asking for instructions on something. Be willing to humble yourself to receive the blessings of God.