25 Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha. "Where have you been, Gehazi?" Elisha asked. "Your servant didn't go anywhere," Gehazi answered.
26. But Elisha said to him, "Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants?
27 Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever." Then Gehazi went from Elisha's presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.
Elisha practiced the Biblical principle- we gain by giving. One who had no place to lay His head wasn't concerned about acquiring worldly wealth. He gave His life. Many people have been spiritually ruined by the pursuit of material gain. Many wish to make it rich while ignoring their spirit and soul. Many are like the rich man building greater and larger barns, but he was called the fool because he died and had to meet the Lord. He was unprepared to meet God. He was living a selfish life. Jesus asks, "What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul?"
Our goal in life is not to have all the blessings of this world and squeeze God some attention. All we have belongs to the Lord. It was His before we came and His after we leave this world. The TV set belongs to God. Are you using it the way he wants? Your computer is His. Your children are His. Your library and magazines are God’s. Do you watch and read what He wants?
One problem of stealing is the failure to understand our sin is against God. It is the lack of trusting Him and the lack of understanding that He chooses to give some things to someone else. The guilt we can carry is not just thinking things are ours, but the desire to accumulate without thought or appreciation of our dependency on what God provides as an outreach of His mercy and grace.
God did not provide Gehazi with the money and clothing that came from Naaman. He lied and took it for himself under false pretense. It did not come with the blessing of God, but the manipulation of man. He is guilty. He did not steal from Naaman. Naaman gave it as a gift. He did not steal from Elisha. Elisha knew it wasn’t his. Gehazi stole from God. God was robbed of His glory in giving blessings.
God blesses us that we might be a blessing to Him and to others. The important thing is not what we have, but how we use it. . People who eat, sleep, talk and live for their possessions will die by them. "Where your treasure is there is your heart also." Someone said, "Be careful what you go after in life, chances are you'll get it--but that may be all you get."
Gehazi got what he wanted and something more. Judgment fell. He got leprosy. Gehazi believed that he could carry out his selfish plan and it would be kept a secret. He left God out of the reckoning. He did not consider that the living God who had healed Naaman of his leprosy could also reveal his sin to the prophet. He that covers his sin shall not prosper, but he who forsakes his sin and confesses it, finds forgiveness for his sin thorough Jesus Christ.
There are people like Gehazi who can work in the very center of religious activity but whose heart is not really for God but for the gold, silver, position, and fame. How many in the church lust after something that is not God's best?
There is a place we can come with our guilt and our shame. It is at the foot of the cross. What He gives is so far greater. It awaits you today.
