Read 2 Kings 5:1-14
A personal relationship with God is established by faith and a continuous fellowship with God is maintained by faith. Paul told the Colossians, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6, NKJV). We receive Him by faith, and we walk in Him by faith. Without faith we cannot please God, and we cannot live effectively for Him. “Without faith,” the Bible says, “it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6, NIV).
Second Kings, chapter 5, records the story of Naaman, a powerful Syrian military leader who was suffering from the most dreaded disease of that era, leprosy. Someone told him that Elisha, the man of God, could possibly heal him, so he sought the prophet’s help. Elisha instructed Naaman to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River to be healed. The great soldier became angry at such a ridiculous suggestion. “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,” said Naaman to his servants (2 Kings 5:11, NIV). At first he refused, but without any other remedy, Naaman at last went into the river and was healed. The act made no human sense, but in the divine plan, it was an act of faith.
Why do we need faith? There is no other way to relate to God, for in His infinite plan He has determined that “the just shall live by faith.”
On your own, with your family, or in a small group, identify one thing you consider an act of faith. Determine to do that thing, and keep a record of the evidence of God’s blessing on obedience in that behavior. Share the results.