03.38. The Disease

The Disease The captain of the host of Syria sits in his chamber, oppressed and dejected by an incurable disease, and thinks of any thing but recovery, or of its probability, or of its means so near at hand. But now, in another part of his mansion there resides a little captive Israelitish maiden, employed in "waiting upon Naaman’s wife." Were we to be banished for a time, like this Hebrew maiden, to the privations of a foreign land, and condemned, as are many of our distant brethren and sisters, to stand isolated in our faith, in the middle of a cold, unbelieving, benighted world, oh, how would those privileges rise in our estimation, to the enjoyment of which long possession has almost rendered us indifferent! While not a few are ready to envy us the pleasant opportunities of brotherly communion that have really befallen us, and are thinking that our spiritual profession must be ever fresh and green, amid the streams of refreshment and encouragement which surround us, alas! what is our interior condition! Oh that we did not ourselves so frequently trouble a spring from which we might draw such abundant supplies of spiritual profit and delight! Did we love one another better, my brethren; were we more firmly united, more unanimous and mutually intimate; were we more confidential with each other, more unreserved and open, than we too generally are, how unspeakably should we gain in substantial joy and blessing! I beseech you, if you value these things at all, think oftener of the apostle’s words; "If there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves."

Whether the little Hebrew maiden was particularly well-informed and instructed we know not; but she brought with her sufficient light to cheer the dark and dreary path of the disconsolate. It must, at least, have been known to her, that God was not only the God of the Jews, but also of the whole earth. She could not, therefore, have doubted, that if Naaman humbled himself before Jehovah, he might experience that Divine favor was not limited to the borders of Canaan; hence she said, "Would God, my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy;" and who can say to what other and greater blessings? The wish of this child was uttered in perfect simplicity, and evidently without the remotest suspicion of the great results it was to originate. But the information was instantly communicated to Naaman himself. And how much had that little, lowly daughter of Abraham already accomplished by her pathetic exclamation! In a moment did she thus revive the hopes of the afflicted pair, and introduce into this house of heathen gloom the first ray of cheerfulness. Those who had so lately contemplated death, and who had only dreamed of separation and the grave, are now suddenly awaked to anticipations of prolonged life and future felicity.

We also may remember a similar and more delightful period in our own lives, when a ray of gospel truth first cheered our minds, after we had gone on restless and dejected under a sense of our estrangement from God; the words, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," or some other such cheering invitation; having first made known to us One that could help us, and One alone. And have we been deceived or disappointed? Blessed is he who has found himself where the footsteps of Jesus are heard, and where all may obtain counsel, consolation, and relief. O go unto him all ye that stand as it were far off from him! Let those who desire the healing of their souls immediately have recourse to Christ. He, and He alone, can effectually recover us from the leprosy of sin. In him, and in him alone, is our peace, security, and life. In him, as in a living temple, dwelleth the all-sufficiency of the Godhead bodily. What though it be awfully proclaimed from this mystical temple, "Whoever forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple!" let us but enter; and within we shall read the words, "Here is peace; here the weary find rest and refreshment:" and from a thousand pillars, that stand as firmly as the everlasting hills, do those indelible truths shine forth; "I am thy God: I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and all that I have is thine." Amen.