Does your belief translate to obedience? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our NAAMAN series with a message called, “God Owns That Dirt, Too.”
2 Kings 5:17
Naaman said, “Please let me be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord.”
When Naaman arrives with his caravan of gold and silver, Elisha invites him to see that there is a prophet in Israel, someone who speaks God’s word.
1) Naaman needs a prophet, not a prescription.
Naaman doesn’t need a magic trick. He doesn’t need a program for improvement. He needs a word from God.
2) God is better than our best thoughts about him.
Naaman’s understanding of God is growing, but it is still too small. Even his best thoughts about God fall short.
If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.
C.S. Lewis
Naaman wants to take dirt with him so he can worship Israel’s God’s home turf. But this God knows no borders or territories.
3) God owns that dirt, too.
Naaman’s conversion is not a conversion of belief, but commitment. Biblical belief is about loyalty and devotion. It is who I serve with my body, mind and emotions.
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Jesus was the revelation of God in bodily form. He gave his body so that we could be forgiven and free to live in whole-heart, whole-body devotion to God!
