Lepers

I am impressed by the story of Naaman found in II Kings 5. Here was a man who was a great success in life. He was a mighty warrior, an able leader, a kind master, a king's trusted right hand man. But he was a leper. What a picture of sin leprosy is! It is humanly incurable; it destroys the body; it is contagious; it inevitably results in death. And only a miracle of grace can heal it.
Naaman was a great man but filled with the leprosy of sin. He had temporal success because the Lord in His sovereignty decided to bless Him, but the earthly recognition was far from being proof that he was God's man. For he was not. He was an idolatrous leper walking about in a state of living death. The same is true today. No matter what success or station in life a man may find himself, it is not evidence that he is a child of God. No matter what a man's character or earthly value, he is still a leper from God's point of view--the only view that counts. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." "For there is no distinction to be made anywhere: everyone has sinned; everyone falls short of the beauty of God's plan." "There is none that does good, no not one." "In sin did my mother conceive me."
But there was hope for Naaman. He knew and recognized his condition. Luke tells us that Israel was full of lepers but only Naaman, the Syrian idolator, came to God for the miraculous cure that alone would cleanse him of his condition. If you are today a man or woman of worldly success, perhaps even living among the people of God, unless you have recognized your condition--"but he was a leper"--you will never find the cure for your sin. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
"Sin pays its servants: the wage is death. But God gives to those who serve Him: His free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." "As many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to those who believe on His name."