4/20/2011 8:05:41 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Gehazi—ministry revoked
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 2Kings 5:20-27
Message of the verses: This is the third section in Dr. Wiersbe’s
commentary in this the forth chapter of his book and he entitles the first
sub-section “He lied to himself and it covers verse 20: “20 ¶
But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, ‘Behold, my master
has spared this Naaman the Aramean, by not receiving from his hands what he
brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.’”
"You
shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife
or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything
that belongs to your neighbor."
This is the tenth commandment which is found in Exodus 20:17. Luke 12:15 reads as follows, “And He said to
them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not
consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." (NKJV) And Philippians 4:11-12 has this to say, “11 Not that I speak from want, for I have
learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how to get along with humble means,
and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have
learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance
and suffering need.” I have either read
or just figured out that the opposite of contentment is covetousness, and when
one breaks the tenth commandment one can easily break all of the rest
easily. I think of what the Apostle Paul
wrote in Romans chapter seven when he was explaining to all that he indeed had
a sin nature for he wrote, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it
never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the
Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said,
"YOU SHALL NOT COVET." One
cannot covet something and at the same time live with contentment and this is
exactly the problem that Gehazi had and this had really been showing its self
for a while. Not only did he break the
tenth commandment but when he spoke “as the LORD lives” he broke the third
commandment, for Gehazi seems to have no fear of God as he has actually taken
His name in vain.
He
lied to Naaman (vv.21-24). “21 So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw one
running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him and said, "Is
all well?" 22 He said, "All is
well. My master has sent
me, saying, ’Behold, just now two young men of the sons of the prophets have
come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of
silver and two changes of clothes.’" 23 Naaman said, "Be pleased to take two
talents." And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags
with two changes of clothes and gave them to two of his servants; and they
carried them before him. 24 When he came
to the hill, he took them from their hand and deposited them in the house, and
he sent the men away, and they departed.”
When Naaman had asked Gehazi is all well he was using the word “shalom”
and this word means peace along with other things all of which Gehazi hand none
of, for he was being deceitful to Naaman, which meant that all was not
well. His master had not sent him, but
his master knew what was going on, for the Lord was telling Elisha what Gehazi
was doing and what was going to become of him.
The
last sub-point is entitled “He lied to Elisha) and it covers verses 25-27: “25
But he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said to him,
"Where have you been, Gehazi?" And he said, "Your servant went
nowhere." 26 Then he said to him,
"Did not my heart go with you, when the man turned from his chariot to
meet you? Is it a time to receive money and to receive clothes and olive groves
and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? 27 "Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall
cling to you and to your descendants forever." So he went out from his
presence a leper as white as snow.”
This
did not turn out the way that Gehazi had thought that it would for his sin was
about to find him out (Numbers 32:23b).
Gehazi was doing something in ministry that should not be done and that is
use it to prophet for himself, and he is not the first to do such a thing nor
the last. There as some passages in the
NT that shows that this should not be done for they are written by the Apostle
Paul who could have succumbed to this same situation, but he did not and he
penned the following: “ 1 ¶
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in
vain, 2 but after we had already
suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in
our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 3 For our exhortation does not come from error
or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but
just as we have been
approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as
pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. 5 For we never came with flattering speech, as
you know, nor with a pretext for greed-God is witness- 6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from
you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted
our authority (1Thes. 2:1-6).” “17 For we are not like many, peddling the word
of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight
of God (2Cor. 2:17). “but we have
renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating
the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to
every man’s conscience in the sight of God (2Cor. 4:2).”
Dr.
Wiersbe writes the following “The covetousness that ate away at his heart
became leprosy eating away at his body.”
Gehazi got the leprosy that Naaman, and not only he but it would remain
in his family, and it was all the fault of not being content, but being
covetous.
This
is story number two of three in the Bible that a person is punished for being
covetous. Achan in Joshua seven is the
first and Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter five is the other.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Paul said that he had learned to be content,
and one thing about it that he learned was seen in that verse in Romans seven
where he knew that he was a sinner because he broke the tenth commandment. It has been at least five years since I read
a book called “The Bumps are what You Climb On,” written by Warren Wiersbe. The last chapter of the book was all about
contentment, and it has been a spiritual goal of mine to learn contentment ever
since reading that chapter. It has
changed my life in a good way, and I am thankful for the bumps that I have been
climbing on for they have taken me to places that I never thought that I would
ever go, and I have meet people that I never thought I would ever meet.
The
portion in verse three of 1Thessiloians two also speaks volumes to me today in
a convicting way for just as Paul had
been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so have I and the gospel
is not only there to tell others their need for the Savior, but it is there to
live a life before the Lord in a way that pleases Him. I want to do better at that, along with doing
better in telling others the good news of Jesus Christ.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Continue to learn contentment.
2.
Tell others about Jesus Christ.
3.
Remember that the war is raging on and I am in need
of the spiritual armor.
4/20/2011 9:22:43 AM
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