Text: 2 Kings 5:1-5
Memory Verse: “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honourable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valour, but a
leper” (2 Kings 5:1).
There is a ‘but’ in everyone’s life. This could be in the form of a reproach, weakness, a problem, shortcoming or even a bad habit that appears difficult to get rid of. Our focus here is the great Syrian warlord. He is described as the captain of the host of the king of Syria, a great man with his master, honourable and a mighty man of valour. The last part of the description says, “but [he was] a leper.”
It was obvious that Achan, the son of Carmi, had a ‘but’ in his life, which hefailed to get rid of. He coveted gold and a garment, which were to have been destroyed. He could not have known that stealing those items could lead to the
painful death that himself, his wife and children experienced (Joshua 7:19-22). For King Solomon, it was the uncontrolled desire for women. One major thing a ‘but’ does in one’s life is to take away the original identity
and replace it with a degrading identity. In dealing with a ‘but’ in one’s life, there are at least 3 options: to accept the ‘but’ and live with it, to tolerate it, or to seek help by crying out. It is important to note that, if you do not get rid of
the ‘but’ in your life, it might get rid of you. What is the ‘but’ in your life? What are you doing about it?
Prayer Points:
1. Father, please attend to every ‘but’ (mention them) in my life.
2. Lord, I ask for the grace to see positive results as I work on the weaknesses in my life.