Romans 10:9
If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Did you know that the public can adopt horses and burros from the Bureau of Land Management? As a means to create healthy population numbers, there is a round-up and in a random selection some animals are returned to the wild and some are kept for adoption. I know this because my father and I adopted two burros. After some patient interaction, they seemed to enjoy life with predictable food and shelter.
One of the burros, Chocolate, was going to live at my acreage. Only one mile away, it seemed like an easy walk, but Chocolate was not having any of this leading business. Try as I might to pull, coax, or persuade, she would lock her knees and dig in her hooves. I finally found success in walking behind her almost like driving a cart, but there was no cart. Her stubbornness reminds me of a story in 2 Kings.
Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army suffered from the horrible deadly disease of leprosy. 2 Kings 5: 2-8 tells us his story, “In one of their raids against Israel, the Syrians had carried off a little Israelite girl, who became a servant of Naaman’s wife. One day she said to her mistress, ‘I wish that my master could go to the prophet who lives in Samaria! He would cure him of his disease.’ When Naaman heard of this, he went to the king and told him what the girl had said. The king said, ‘Go to the king of Israel and take this letter to him.’
So Naaman set out, taking thirty thousand pieces of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of fine clothes. The letter that he took read: ‘This letter will introduce my officer Naaman. I want you to cure him of his disease.’ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and exclaimed, ‘How can the king of Syria expect me to cure this man? Does he think that I am God, with the power of life and death? It’s plain that he is trying to start a quarrel with me!’ When the prophet Elisha heard what had happened, he sent word to the king: ‘Why are you so upset? Send the man to me, and I’ll show him that there is a prophet in Israel!’”
Naaman does go to Elisha, but Elisha sends a messenger out to tell him to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River and he will be healed. Naaman is furious, claiming that the rivers in Syria are superior and he rants and raves about the expectations he had for the way this healing should happen. After all, he had brought silver, gold, fine clothes to pay his way! But Naaman wasn’t the commander of this operation – God was.
2 Kings 5: 13,14 continues with, “His servants went up to him and said, ‘Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. Now why can’t you just wash yourself, as he said, and be cured?’ So Naaman went down to the Jordan, dipped himself in it seven times, as Elisha had instructed, and he was completely cured. His flesh became firm and healthy like that of a child.”
Naaman wants to pay Elisha for the miracle, but Elisha refuses. Naaman felt compelled to make things harder than they really were. Just like Chocolate, if she would have simply followed directions, we would have had an easy walk.
So often we are like that with the invitation Jesus gives us for eternal life. It seems too easy. We think we need to earn it, but we can’t. Ephesians 2:8 reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” We are conditioned as cynical people to think, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is…” Yet, this invitation is unequivocally the truest offer in all eternity.
People feel as though they have to wait until they are fixed, or worthy, or until they have “paid their dues.” That’s just digging in your hooves and being stubborn, because you will never earn salvation, be worthy (as in sin-free) of salvation, and the whole reason to accept Jesus is for the broken parts to be fixed. If I sliced my arm wide open, I don’t wait for it to heal and then go to the doctor for stitches! Pastor Levi Lusko illustrates this so well when he said,
“Jesus cleans His fish AFTER He catches them!”
Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” That’s it! That’s all there is to it – receive simply receive! So, why are we so stubborn to accept what is so freely and graciously offered? Accepting Jesus is even easier than washing in a river or unlocking your stubborn knees. You simply pray this prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.
See? Wasn’t that easy? If you prayed that prayer for the first time, I’m so excited for all the possibilities you have just unlocked in your life. Please let me know, I’d love to come alongside you and celebrate your adoption into the family of God!
You may like this video too!
