Doesn’t stop us from trying tho.
Continuing with the pattern of God giving first, it just keeps showing up.
God gives, and we keep screwing it up.
A man named Naaman comes to Elisha because he has leprosy. Naaman is important, wealthy, and powerful, but none of that can fix what’s wrong with him.
Aside from that, he’s the commander of an enemy army. An enemy of Israel.
That doesn’t prevent God from healing him. He doesn’t even require him to switch sides first.
That part is probably worth remembering whenever we start thinking we need to clean ourselves up before going to God. If He’s willing to heal Naaman, He’s willing to heal us.
Anyway.
Elisha tells him what to do, Naaman is healed, and naturally he tries to give Elisha gifts afterward.
Elisha refuses them because the healing wasn’t for sale. It was a gift from God, given long before Naaman could think about earning it.
Then enters Gehazi.
Gehazi is Elisha’s servant, and apparently the whole thing bothers him. Naaman leaves healed, wealthy, and still in possession of all his money and gifts.
Gehazi can’t leave it alone.
So he runs after him and lies. Says Elisha changed his mind and now wants payment after all.
It almost feels modern. God gives freely, and somebody immediately starts trying to figure out how to monetize it.
You can see it on TV every Sunday.
“Plant your seed!” “Give first and God will multiply it back!” “Send your offering here!”
Curiously, the address is usually their own.
But it’s not just televangelists. It’s all of us.
We do it ourselves with churches. With ministry. With generosity. With reputation. With morality itself. We constantly try to turn grace into transaction.
We want a formula. A leverage point. A way to put God in debt to us.
But God is never in debt to us.
He gives first, and keeps giving despite how persistently we misuse what we’re given.
As for Gehazi, he ends up struck with Naaman’s leprosy and is told it will cling to him and his descendants forever. There’s not much mention of him after that, so we don’t really know how his story ended.
But considering everything else we’ve looked at, it wouldn’t surprise me if even that wasn’t the end of it.
Because God keeps giving.
Which is fortunate for all of us.
P.S.- If you’d like to read through the Bible this year, you can join us at His Word Together.
No commentary.
No telling you what to think.
Nothing to buy.
Nothing fancy.
Just steady time in the Word.
Check it out here.
Leave a Reply