In the 1984 movie The Karate Kid, a young boy who is tired of being bullied comes to Mr. Miyagi to learn karate.  While training him, Mr. Miyagi is shown to have some strange teaching methods.  He has Daniel wash and wax his vehicles, sand the floor of his deck, and paint his fence.  When Daniel doubts that he has learned anything useful, Mr. Miyagi shows him what the motions that his muscles have memorized can do to help him defend himself.

     In the Bible we can read of a similar situation.  Naaman, a commander of the army of Syria, came to Israel to seek out the prophet Elisha in order to be healed of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-8).  As he approached Elisha’s house he was met by a messenger who had come from Elisha.  The messenger told Naaman that in order to be cured of his leprosy he must dip in the Jordan seven times (2 Kings 5:9-10).

     Naaman was furious.  He thought that Elisha would wave his hand all over the place and make a great show in calling on the name of God.  Instead, Elisha has sent his word by a messenger.  To top it all off, Naaman was told to dip in the dirty Jordan river, not the much better rivers back home in Syria (2 Kings 5:11-12).  Nevertheless, Naaman did what the prophet instructed him to do, and his leprosy was healed (2 Kings 5:13-14).  Like Daniel with Mr. Miyagi, Naaman learned that simple obedience produced a desired result.

     How is it with us?  Do we expect to be tapped on the shoulder by God and told what to do?  At one time God spoke with man either directly or through the prophets, but now He speaks to us by His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2).  Jesus’ message for salvation is simple, “he who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16a NKJV).  We may be looking for a grander scheme, but why not simply obey what God has said to do.  After all, it worked out pretty well for Naaman!