Greed

But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.” So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him, and said, “Is all well?” And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me, saying, ‘Indeed, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have come to me from the mountains of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of garments.’”
2 Kings 5:20-22
Eve coveted the forbidden fruit and brought sin and death to the world. Achan coveted gold, silver and expensive garments and brought defeat to the people of Israel. Ahab coveted Naboth’s vineyard and committed murder in his desire to take over his neighbour’s property. As illustrated in the above verses, Gehazi also fell under the lure of covetousness and similarly, suffered from the consequences, bringing upon himself and his descendants, the leprosy of Naaman.
Naaman’s servant, the slave girl, wanted her master to be cured of his leprosy but Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, was not interested in the healing power of the Lord of Israel. Instead of seeking to glorify God, he sought to benefit from Naaman’s healing and as a result, became a leper himself.

If left unchecked, the desire to acquire more is often accompanied by lies and deception. Greed has an insatiable appetite and will use any means to get what it wants. We need to remember that worldly gain is short lived and will, one day, disappear.
As men and women of God, we should ask ourselves if we are seeking healing from the Lord so that He will be glorified or are we looking for what we can gain from Him to glorify ourselves? The servant of Naaman, out of love and compassion, sought true healing and received both healing and salvation for her master but the servant of Elisha sought to gain material wealth from the miraculous work of God. The result was that he lost his health and was punished with the leprosy of Naaman.

Dear Lord,
I thank You for giving us Jesus, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Help me to put my trust in You alone and not the world and its riches, which is passing away. Amen.

God bless you,
Theo & Manju