Made in the Shade Christians

In this passage, Naaman is a leper. He goes to see Elisha to see if he could cure him of his leprosy. 
So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.  And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.  But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the Name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.  Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?  may I not wash in them, and be clean?  So he turned and went away in a rage.  And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?  how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?  Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.  And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.  2 Kings, Chapter 5, verses 9-15.

Naaman leaves Elisha saying, “That’s too easy, I could have bathed in the rivers by my own town.  How could something so easy take care of my disease?” (Paraphrased) Sometimes God asks us to do simple things and we don’t trust Him.
All we have to do for Salvation is to believe that Jesus is our Savior and to try to live as examples of how He works in our lives.  We are “Made in the Shade Christians,” because God doesn’t ask us to give up everything we own, go into the airport selling flowers, to meditate for hours or to go through great personal sacrifice.  Yet many people look elsewhere for God and have been known to jump through all sorts of hoops to find Salvation that is elusive, because they are not focusing on God’s simple requirement.

Naaman eventually realized that it was worth giving the simple request a try and it paid off.  He was cured from his leprosy by doing what God wanted him to do.  I like the way God uses graphic illustrations to demonstrate the lessons He wants me to learn.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.