2 Kings 5:2-4 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid… I. HER FAITH IN GOD. Plainly she had very strong faith; and it was of the right sort. For there are wrong kinds of faith. Mere belief even of the truth may be perfectly powerless. The question is, what side does ]our belief make you take? It should be a living trust in a living person, a whole faith in the whole Saviour. Notice the beautiful signs of this girl's faith. In that land of idols and idolaters she was not ashamed to own her Lord. And her charity proved her faith sincere. What wonder if she had nursed revenge, and said in spite, "I'm glad my master is a leper: it is God's judgment upon him: it serves him right." How beautiful, how Christ-like her forgiving spirit! We should like to know how she became such a believing child of God. The people of Israel were then desperately wicked. It was the time of Elijah, of Ahab and Jezebel; and thousands had forsaken Jehovah for idols. But probably she had such a good mother as Timothy had. From her lips she learnt about the God of Abraham. Her mother's prayers were heard in heaven; and when sin rioted around, faith found a home in the heart of this dear child. II. HER FAITHFULNESS. Faithfulness is more than faith. As the Word shows, it is the fulness of faith. She had so much of the true faith that it filled her whole nature, and made her faithful under terrible trials. It wrought in her loving loyalty to her loving God: it made her leal-hearted. Peter had faith, but not enough of it to make him faithful in the palace of the high priest. How sad that many who go to heathen countries are faithless to their religion. They act as if their religion should be shaped by the region where they happen to dwell; they are as the softest wax on which public opinion may set any stamp: men they are in this without manhood, who do not belong to themselves but to any owner who boldly claims them; they are tossed about like pitiable atoms in the centre of a whirlwind. We greatly value this unselfish loyalty to a cause that seems lost. The Bible is always pleading with us to be loyal to God, and true to our trust, whatever it may be. III. HER FRUITFULNESS. "Nothing but leaves," cannot be applied to her. Seeming the meekest human being in Syria, she proved one of the mightiest. "I am but one, but I am one. I cannot do much, but I can do something; and all that I can do I ought to do, and by God's grace will do." Thus she became really a great apostle and missionary. By her the true religion was known and respected in Syria, and Naaman became a worshipper of Jehovah; and so she has been thought worthy of a large place in God's book. But take care not to fall into a mistake here. You may fancy that you are to do good only by a great and happy effort once in a while. "How long did you take to paint that picture for which you ask £100?" a gentleman once said to a famous painter. "Two days," he replied. "And do you expect £100 for the work of two days?" "You forget," answered the painter, "that my whole life was a preparation for the work of these two days." So a few words from this girl moved the household of Naaman; but it was her whole life that prepared her for giving these few words at the right time, and in the right way. (J. Wells.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. |
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