TRUE SIGNIFICANCE IN LIFE

“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean” – 2 Kings 5:10b

It takes God’s Purpose-directed Instructions to discover TRUE SIGNIFICANCE in Life: “And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean” (2 Kgs. 5:10). Naaman, a top General in the Syrian army “was a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master,” but a leper (v.1). One day his wife’s maid told her mistress that a prophet in Samaria could heal her master of “his leprosy” (vv.2-3). Believing the maid’s words, Naaman obtained a letter from the king of Syria to a distraught king of Israel (vv.4-7). Elisha heard, and invited Naaman, who went with his horses and chariots and a false sense of significance (vv.8-9). Elisha told his servant to instruct Naaman to dip seven times in the Jordan River and he would be healed. Naaman became furious, complaining that he could have washed in rivers in Syria if that would have cured him (vv.10-12). But Mercy instructed him!

Naaman’s servants were his angels of mercy. They convinced him to obey the prophet’s instruction. He did, dipping himself in the Jordan River, and when he came up the seventh time, he was completely cured (vv.13-14). He was not only healed of leprosy; he gained faith in the Living God and discovered True Significance in Life! God was the Source of Significance, not his status, riches, or a particular river. Too often we look at life the same way Naaman did. We are either filled with pride of position, possessions, and popularity or seek satisfaction in life’s activities without considering the purpose behind them. It wasn’t the river that healed Naaman, but his obedience to God’s purpose through the words of the prophet. The river was powerless. God’s word is all-powerful. In Him, Naaman discovered True Significance in Life!

When God defines his purpose for our lives, we will find fulfillment only when we walk toward the end He has set. God wants us to know His plans and purposes, because apart from them we cannot know hope, peace or joy. Purpose is the key to fulfillment in all things, because it establishes the foundation on which life must be built. The realization of Relevance and Significance in life can affect our choices, decisions, and priorities with regards to personal development, habits, lifestyles, career, marriages, parenting, secular work, and spiritual service

Without the discovery and understanding of Purpose, life becomes an endless string of activities with little or no significance; much motion but no progress! Where there is no clear internal reason for living, no significance in life, the demand for discipline, commitment, self-control and respect for authority will gradually diminish until men sit among their life-long attainments and cry with regret, “Is this all there is?”