2 Kings 5:1

The Little Word “But”

But he was a leper. 2 Kings 5:1.

Some little words may mean a great deal. “But” is one of them. Many things have been said about it “The little word that spoils the music”; “The word that has the knack of spoiling things,” etc. “But” has a bad character. And indeed it is in this light generally think of it. It drops into speech at every turn; we seem to have heard it all our lives “Jack is a fine fellow, but ”

1. It certainly spoilt the music of Naaman's life.

We are told of his greatness he was a great captain, a favorite of the king, and famous because of the victories he had won. Wealth, titles Naaman had everything but one to place him among the proudest and happiest of men.

But what did it matter though he had a great position, much popularity, and the favor of the king, when all the time he was suffering from one of the most loathsome of diseases? “But he was a leper.”

That “but” was sufficient to shut out all brightness and hope from his life.

Naaman must have been a brave man a “plucky” man, as we say sometimes. Think what it must have meant to keep doing his work in spite of such a terrible handicap. Every year the disease would gain a stronger hold on his body. He was like a soldier who carried a golden shield, beautiful to the world, but to the soldier himself picturing something that made him sad whenever he looked at it.

I once knew a poor little girl who had a “but” in her life. It was not the want of pretty clothes, nor was it the fact that she sometimes got very small dinners. No one played games with greater spirit than she did: she jumped about the school playground as merrily as any. But at home in the evenings there was often something to make her little heart sad. Her mother looked sorrowful and careworn. Father drank, and when he came in he said very unkind things to everybody. She often cried at such times; but next day she would be as bright as ever. And the “but” in that girl's life helped to make her a woman full of sympathy for those who did wrong.

Let me tell you of a little boy who lived in a grand house. He had everything about him to make his life happy. If you had seen his room, you would have said, “I wish I had all the toys I see lying about.” But you would have felt sorry for the owner of them. He could not rise from his little bed in the corner; for he took hip joint disease when he was quite a wee fellow. His “but,” like that of the little girl, was doing a splendid thing for him; it was making him a brave soldier. Even if he could not fight, he had become “plucky” like the Syrian captain. Grown-up people used to come and sit beside him sometimes, they felt that the sight of that little boy's courage did them good.

There are “buts,” however, that boys and girls are better without. We need to remember these when we say our prayers. “Annie is a clever girl, but so careless” Carelessness may lead to sin. “Frank is a likeable boy, but you can never quite depend on what he says” A tendency to untruthfulness means that the boy or girl who has it is on the road to become a deceiver. I like to think of a boy I heard of, who was very ambitious to get to the top of his class. He was the youngest in the class. His teacher told a friend that one day she asked the boys to spell a somewhat unusual word. One after another they missed it Then it came to Alec's turn. He made his attempt and the teacher said, “Right! go up,” and feeling very proud he marched to the position he had coveted. Then the teacher said, “I shall write it on the blackboard for you all to see.” As she wrote, Alec watched. Presently he saw the letters “I.E.” Without a moment's hesitation he cried, “Oh, I said ‘EX',” and down he walked to his old position. His teacher felt proud of him: she knew what it had cost him, and that he would be feeling that it made him look small in the eyes of his classmates. But doing the right thing would in time become easy to Alec, for God would help him.

A true follower of Jesus Christ should have no “but” in his character. Your companions may be ready with their “buts” when they speak of you, but if you ask God to help you to be like Jesus Christ, it is only God's judgment you have to think of. When a great and good man was newly buried, an onlooker said, “Here lies one who never feared the face of man.” He had lived as in the presence of God. Boys and girls, remember that.