Children’s Sermon

2 Kings 5:1-14

Wash and Be Clean

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2 Kings 5:1-14

Wash and Be Clean

Our Bible story for today is from the Old Testament. There was a man named Naaman;

a great man and commander of the king’s army. He had a serious illness which could be seen as sores on his skin.

Naaman learned there was a prophet (a man of God) in Israel who would be able to cure him. The prophet’s name was Elisha.

“So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha” (5:9). “Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, ‘Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean'” (5:10).

Naaman became angry when he heard these instructions. He thought Elisha’s advice was too simple. He thought that to be cured he would have to do something more difficult.

His servants spoke to him, and said, “… if the prophet had asked you do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean?'” (5:13). The servants encouraged Naaman to follow Elisha’s directions to see what would happen.

So Naaman went and washed in the river seven times and the Bible tells us the sores on his skin were healed and he was clean.

What can we learn from this story? Perhaps we make some things more difficult than they are. Have you ever experienced that? We may worry and fret about doing something and then after we have done it realize how simple it was.

Think about how simple it is to accept God’s love. God offers us his love and forgiveness and what is asked of us is that we say yes. God’s Spirit then guides us, teaches us, helps us to have a good life and life ever after.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible