Treating the Sickness

Have you ever been offered a remedy that sounded rediculous or inconvenient in order to cure an ailment? Something which was altogether different, unconventional or even insulting in order to bring about the healing you needed?

I recall a time when such a remedy was prescribed for me in order to heal a skin deformity on my foot. I went to the doctor expecting some kind of shot or surgical operation in order to remove it. Instead, what he gave me was a prescription for a pill and an interesting diet. I wanted a quick fix and to forget about it, but the doctor had me commit to a steady discipline of work and treatment in order to receive the help I needed. 

In the book of 2 Kings chapter five, a soldier by the name of Naaman was suffering with leprosy, a skin disease which often effected the nervous and immune systems, often fatal over time. He soon came to the prophet Elisha searching for help and healing from his disease. Elisha told Naaman to go and wash himself in the Jordan river seven times to be cleansed of his leprosy. When he heard these instructions, he became insulted because the Jordan was not his idea of a clean river for washing, much less healing. Nevertheless, he did so and found himself cleansed from the terrible and degenerative disease!

Sin is such a disease, 'though in a spiritual sense. We seek the Lord for help and healing from it. Yet, when He instructs us to act upon our faith in Him, to give up the things we love or surrender our expectations of healing, we often feel insulted and humiliated by the reactions we receive from our friends and family.

Sometimes The Lord will ask us to do something small and repetitively over time. Other times he may ask us to make a decision to give up something big or important to us in exchange for full restoration. Whatever the case may be, whatever instructions the Lord may have for us, we should consider His wisdom greater than our own and embrace them with joy. Because in the end, we will find healing as long as we are willing to obey His commands.

Do you seek healing from sin? Has The Lord given you instructions to treat the effects of your disease? Are you insulted by them or are you willing to follow his prescription for holiness? In the end, the choice for healing is yours. 

Going the Way of the World

Why does the Bible so often contrast holiness with worldliness? What is implied by suggesting the ways of the world are contrary to godliness?

Throughout the history of ancient Israel there is a recurring theme that teaches the church of the dangers of pagan (worldly) influences: "they did evil in the eyes of The Lord and followed the ways of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin." 

The reign of Jeroboam became known as a reference point of corruption in the history of Israel's leadership. In fact, when kings retained the practice of pagan ideals and compromised the holy standards for God's chosen nation of Israel, they were compared with Jeroboam, son of Nebat (1-2 Kings). 

It is said that Jeroboam, as well as the kings who followed his ways, led Israel to worship golden calves (as false images of Yaweh), and offer sacrifices to the pagan goddess Asherah and the god of Baal.  

Asherah was a fertility goddess who was worshipped as the wife of El (or the great God of Creation); she is regarded as the mother of all living or the queen of heaven (Holman Bible Dictionary). Today she may be regarded by her more popular name, "Mother Nature."

Baal, also connected with fertility, was the Canaaninte god who served as, "lord" or "master" over mankind; his title was Prince, or Lord of the Earth. In the book of Ephesians, Baal is merely another term for Satan (Eph 2:2); the prince of the power of the air (the god of this world/age).

In 2 Kings 17, God's chosen people begin to see the consequences of their corruption and sacrilege manifesed in the form of banishment and bondage. Fashioned once again by the chains of slavery and suffering because they choose to abandon the ways of God, who is their salvation, for the pagan practices and philosophies of the world. 

There is much we can learn from the needless suffering Israel faced as a result of their corruption and compromises. When we refuse to tear down the various forms of idolatry and sensuality in our lives, we only misrepresent God to the world as though we are worshipping golden calves. When we play the game that Mother Nature is our common maternal caregiver with the world, we assume The Lord is not the one True Sovereign over all things. When we are mastered by the fruitless deeds of darkness in this world, we are giving ourselves over to the Baals; the devil and demons of the spiritual realm whose chief aim is to "steal, kill and destroy" us from having and living in the knowledge of Truth. 

Is this what we have become in our nation today? Compromising holiness for sensuality and materialism? Are we inviting bondage and brokenness back into our heritage as a nation, Or are we willing to seek the Lord's will and tear down the strongholds of corrupt influences in our lives that may serve as a stumbling block to us and our children in the future? What will we do with the freedom afforded us by our Sovereign Lord, Jesus Christ?

May we be wise in these final days and abandon the ways of Jeroboam, the ways of the world. By shining as the Way to the Father, through continued obedient faith in Christ, we will influence the world for hope instead of the world influencing the church with destruction.