The Consequences of Sin

April 4, 2019

The Consequences of Sin

“Because you have done this, you and your descendants will suffer from Naaman’s leprosy forever.” When Gehazi left the room, he was covered with leprosy; his skin was white as snow.

2 Kings 5:27

On March 25, 2019, I wrote that one of my favorite stories in the Bible is the account of Naaman’s healing in 2 Kings 5. Naaman, the mighty general of the king of Aram, suffered with leprosy and was sent to Elisha, the prophet of Israel for healing. Naaman followed Elisha’s instructions to wash seven times in the Jordan River and his “skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!” (2 Kings 5:14) There are many uplifting nuances in this story, but today I am looking at an affirmation that while God is love, God also judges our sin.

When Naaman sought permission from the King of Israel to enter his land the King wasn’t inclined to grant him permission because he doubted his motives. But Elisha intervened and advised the King to send Naaman to him so that Naaman could experience the God of Israel. Later, when Naaman was healed he offered Elisha very extravagant gifts in appreciation for his healing. Elisha declined the gifts lest he give the impression that God’s goodness could be purchased. End of Act 1 of the story.

Enter Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, and begin Act 2 of the story. For Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, the man of God, the gifts from Naaman were way too good to pass up. He followed Naaman out of town, approached him and told a lie in Elisha’s name in order to personally receive Naaman’s generous gifts. But Gehazi, was the servant of Elisha, the man of God, and Elisha, the man of God, knew everything of Gahazi’s deceit. Elisha admonished Gahazi for compromising Elisha’s witness for God and then pronounced God’s judgment: “Because you have done this, you and your descendants will suffer from Naaman’s leprosy forever” (2 Kings 5:27a).

My Takeaway: Over and over again, Jesus makes abundantly clear that our decisions have consequences. As fully-devoted followers of Jesus, we know our sins have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus. While those sins don’t alter our eternal destiny, they do have consequences on our life today. “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant” (Galatians 6:7). Holy Week will be here in just ten days; I think I need to get out Psalm 139:23-24 again, how about you?

Sē’lah

Alex

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.