God has taught in His Word that He is the only God of heaven and earth. Any other claim of power equal to His or of a god equal to Him is a false claim and a false god. God once gave a special lesson about His absolute supremacy to a man named Namaan. (2 Kings 5) Namaan was a proud and mighty warrior from the nation of Aram, a nation that happened to be an enemy of the nation of Israel; but Namaan was also a leper. Leprosy was a disease that would ruin his body, his military career and his life. Certainly Namaan sought healing from the gods of Aram, but because they were false gods, he remained a leper. When Namaan heard about the God of Israel, although Israel was an enemy, he decided to seek the help of this foreign God. I encourage you to read for yourself the fascinating account of how God instructed Namaan to receive a miraculous healing. Something interesting happens after Namaan is healed by God. He asks to be allowed to take a load of dirt from Israel back to Aram with him. Why would he want a load of dirt? Namaan had realized that Israel's God was the only true God of earth and heaven. From now on, Namaan would worship only this God. But this one, true God was Israel's God. How would he worship Israel's God in the land of Aram? His solution was to take some of Israel back to Aram with him! It makes me smile to imagine this mighty warrior from the enemy of Israel, bowing down upon the soil of Israel to worship the God of Israel. Maybe Namaan would learn in due time that this one true God of Israel was in no way limited to the land Israel. But we can learn something from Namaan. Hauling a load of dirt back home to Aram made his new allegiance to Israel's God undeniably clear. May our devotion to God be equally clear and unmistakable. May we not forget that we worship the supreme God of earth and heaven.
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