Title

When God Says Seven

Scripture
So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
(2 Kings 5:14)
Devotional
I wonder what would have happened if Naaman would have only dipped five or six times instead of seven? Other than Naaman getting wet, I am fairly sure that nothing would have happened. He would have remained a leper. We are called to an obedient faith. Therefore, when God says seven, six won't do. Almost isn't good enough. Just as king Agrippa said to the apostle Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian."[1] As the old hymn goes, "Almost persuaded." We like Naaman desire without obedience. God says in essence, it is through obedience that we receive our desires. Belief without obedience isn't belief at all; it is a false hope—a bad gamble. True faith is a combination of believing, trusting and obeying. As love is to faith and hope, obedience is to trusting and believing. The greatest of the one is love and the greatest of the other is obedience.

[1] Acts 26:28