S h e w as only a little maid in the home of a great captain. Her name is not even given, but God has been pleased to record her faithful ness in His Word. Long, long ago, in the days when the land of Syria was victorious in conquest, some of the Syrians went down into the land of Israel and car ried away captive a little girl. What a terrible experience this must have been — to be taken from home and loved ones and native land—yet such things did happen in the days of con quest and war! Now in the land of Syria there lived a great captain, Naaman by name. He was a very honorable man and a favorite of the king, for it was through him that the land of Syria had been delivered. But there was one very sad thing about Naaman; he had a dreadful disease called leprosy. No doubt he had tried the very best doctors of his land, but none could cure his terrible disease. It was in this home that the little maid was placed to serve the captain’s wife. Of course she soon learned of the grief of the household, the sha dow that hung over the great captain because of the leprosy. She must have often noticed her mistress in grief because of it. And though this little girl was far away from home and in a heathen land, she did not forget the true God, the God of Israel. She remembered, too, His prophet, Elisha, back in her native land; so one day as she was before her mistress, she made bold to speak, “Would my lord were with the pro phet that is in Samaria, for he would heal him of his leprosy!” What hope in those words! Surely the household of Naaman had come T re a su re H u n t (co n tin u e d ) The next verse to be found was Isa iah 1:18, and because Grandmother and Peter found it at the same time, they read it together, “ ‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scar let, they shall be as white as snow.’ ” “ Peter,” said Grandmother as they finished reading, “I believe this verse will lead you to that most precious treasure of all.” “What do you mean, Gram?” “ I will tell you. To begin with, our verse has told us that our sins
to trust her, for the words of the lit tle maid were soon carried to the king. Now the king loved Naaman and was anxious to have him freed from the dreadful leprosy, but this king was a heathen king and did not know the true God. He seemed to think the power to help Naaman lay in the hands of the king of Israel, so he sent Naaman off with gold and sil ver and costly clothing, also with a letter to the king of Israel saying, “ I have sent Naaman . . . to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.” After a while, Naaman reached the king of Israel and presented the roy al letter of introduction, but the king of Israel could not help Naaman though he was laden with gifts of gold and silver. He was really angry that the king of Syria should expect help from him. Now Elisha, God’s prophet, soon heard of the king’s anger and of Naa- man’s visit, and sent word for Naa man to come to him and learn that he was God’s true prophet. Then Naa man, with his many horses and char iots, came to the door of Elisha’s house. Surely Elisha would be awed by so great a company and would render rightful homage, but instead, Elisha sent a messenger with this message, “ Go and wash in the Jordan seven times . . . and thou shalt be clean.” But Naaman, instead of receiving this message with joy, was angry. He had not received enough attention— and the Jordan river—were there not better rivers by far in his own land? He really did not want to obey. Then his servants drew near. “ If the prophet had bid you do some great thing,” they asked, “ would you not have done it? How much are as scarlet. That means that they are like a certain shade of red which is almost impossible to remove from anything which it stains. Look at the snow. See how clean and pure it is! God wants your heart to be just like it. God knew that you could not take sin and its stain out of your heart, so He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to do this for you. If you will accept Christ as your Saviour, He will wash your sin away and make your heart clean and pure like the snow. Would you like to have Him do this for you?”
more, when he says to you ‘wash and be clean?’ ” The words of the servants seemed reasonable; so, laying aside his pride, Naaman obeyed. Down he went into the water one time, two times, five times, and six times, and still he was leprous, but when he came up out of the water the seventh time, behold a wondrous thing had happened! His leprosy was gone, and his skin was as clean as that of a little child. Then he came to the prophet of God, Elisha, with this testimony, “Be hold, now, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.” He would have given a gift to Eli sha, but no, Elisha refused to receive it.. God must have all the glory, and the washing that makes one clean cannot be bought; it is all a free gift. Back Naaman went to his home land. The journey must have seemed very long considering the joyful news he was longing to tell to his loved ones. Surely his wife was anxiously waiting for his return; and the little maid was waiting too, but with hope that believes. She knew that the God of Israel was able. It was not a new thing to her, this miracle. With what rejoicing Naaman must have entered his home again, a new man, cleansed of the dreadful dis ease. Surely there was a time of praise and thanksgiving to the one and only true God in the great cap tain’s home — and the little maid, don’t you think she joined with the others in praise to God? But suppose she had failed to give her testimony, even though she was but a little maid? Suppose she had failed in her duties so that her words were not believed? But I’m glad she didn’t, aren’t you? Peter looked out of the window, and he was very thoughtful as he said, “ I’d like to have my heart white like that snow.” Then he slipped from his stool, and knelt beside Grandmother. When she explained to him how he could receive the Saviour, he asked the Lord Jesus to come into his heart, and wash away all his sin. Of course, the Lord Jesus answered his prayer. Peter was so happy that he forgot about going to the ranch. He had found the great Treasure, the Lord Jesus Christ.
AUGUST, 1962
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