“But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, said to himself, ‘My master should not have let this
Aramean get away without accepting any of his gifts…I will chase after him and get something from him.’
But Elisha asked him, ‘Don’t you realize that I was there in spirit when Naaman stepped down from his chariot to meet you?’ …Because you have done this, you and your descendants will suffer from Naaman’s leprosy forever.”
2 Kings 5:20, 26-27 NLT
How often do we chase after something for ourselves, even though we know it’s not meant for us? Gehazi ran after the very gifts Elisha had earlier refused because he knew they belonged to God. Even though Gehazi cleverly hid the stolen items, he could not hide his actions—his master had been watching.
We too can assume nobody sees our sneaky ways of chasing after someone else's position, salary, or even their skills. We think we’re pretty good at hiding our greed for credit that doesn’t belong to us. Yet all the while our Master is whispering, “Don’t you realize I was there?”
Our Master is always watching—not to beat us for chasing but to keep us from losing. When Gehazi chased after what belonged to Someone else, he thought he was gaining something for himself. Sadly, Gehazi did not realize the danger of greed until he watched leprosy destroy his life little by little, leaving him with absolutely nothing.
The voice of greed sounds attractive—you deserve this, you need this, it’s your right. But our Master knows when we chase after something for ourselves it will never satisfy. Instead, we lose everything as greed eats away our very soul.
Our Loving Father planned for us to share HIS abundance…
No wonder He wants to save us from the leprosy of greed!
