Following directions

Do you follow directions? I don't follow directions all the time, but my projects always turn out better when I do! There's an important story in the Bible about following directions. 

The Bible tells us there was once a famous military general named Naaman.

Naaman got leprosy - a terrible, terrible skin disease. People who had leprosy lost feeling in their limbs, so if they couldn't feel if they got hurt or burned. That meant wounds often got infected and sometimes fingers and toes or whole arms and legs would have to be cut off. People died from leprosy!

When people with leprosy went into the market, they would have to shout "Unclean! I'm a leper!" to warn others. Healthy people would run away from them. Leprosy was just about the worst thing that could happen to Naaman. He was a talented and famous military general, but now everyone would avoid him. 

Naaman heard there was a prophet named Elisha who could help him. Elisha told him to get in the Jordan River and wash in it, and he would be healed. Naaman probably said something like, "That old, muddy river? How's that going to help me? I've got leprosy!"

Finally Naaman followed Elisha's directions. After he washed in the river, the leprosy went away! Naaman was healed! He was clean!

You know what that story is a picture of? That's a picture of you and me!

I don't have leprosy, but I have something a lot worse. I'm a sinner. I sin every day, even when I don't want to. And so do you. We have a sin leprosy. We're all unclean. 

You know what the Bible says we should do about our sin leprosy? 

We wash in the blood of Jesus.

How's that going to help? 

Because Jesus died for our sins. And the Bible tells us that's the ONLY thing that can wash away our sin leprosy. 

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for this story about Naaman and that the directions you give us in the Bible are really simple. Jesus came to wash away our sins. Help us to believe that and to follow your directions. 

 About the Redeemer Community Church PCA children's devotions:

Sometimes it can be hard to break down Biblical truths for our kids into easy-to-understand and easy-to-remember bite-sized pieces. Pastor Chuck does this weekly in his Children's Sermon, and we're sharing key points from those sermons here each week. Feel free to use with your littles as conversation starters throughout the week, reminders of what we learned in church on Sundays, and just general opportunities to share our love of God's word and His love for us.