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Friday, July 29, 2022

Our Free Daily Devotional

SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2022


TEXT: 2 Kings 5:15-27


15. Then Naaman and his whole company went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “I know there’s no God in the whole world except in Israel. Therefore, please accept a gift from your servant.”


16. But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, I stand before Him. I will not accept it.” Naaman urged him to accept it, but he refused.


17. Naaman responded, “If not, please let two mule-loads of dirt be given to your servant, for your servant will no longer offer a burnt offering or a sacrifice to any other god but Yahweh.


18. However, in a particular matter may the LORD pardon your servant: When my master, [the king of Aram], goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship and I, as his right-hand man, bow in the temple of Rimmon- when I bow in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.“


19. So he said to him, “Go in peace.” After Naaman had traveled a short distance from Elisha,


20. Gehazi, the attendant of Elisha the man of God, thought: My master has let this Aramean Naaman off lightly by not accepting from him what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.


21. So Gehazi pursued Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything all right?”


22. Gehazi said, “It’s all right. My master has sent me to say, ‘I have just now discovered that two young men from the sons of the prophets have come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them 75 pounds of silver and two changes of clothes.’”


23. But Naaman insisted, “Please, accept 150 pounds.” He urged Gehazi and then packed 150 pounds of silver in two bags with two changes of clothes. Naaman gave then to two of his young men who carried them ahead of Gehazi.


24. When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the gifts from them and stored them in the house. Then he dismissed the men, and they left.


25. Gehazi came and stood by his master. “Where did you go, Gehazi?” Elisha asked him. “Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” he replied.


26. But Elisha questioned him, “Wasn’t my spirit there when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to accept money and clothes, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves?


27. Therefore, Naaman’s skin disease will cling to you and your descendants forever.“ So Gehazi went out from his presence diseased- [white] as snow.


(Holmans CS Holy Bible)


TOPIC: SHAME AND DEATH TO THE GREEDY


Greed is one of the causes of corruption in our society and breeds the insecurity being experienced around the globe. The amazing wealth of the selfish denies many others their legitimate access to gainful employment.


The humility of Naaman led him to recognize that there was no other god in all the world than Yahweh, the God of Israel. While Naaman was seeking to establish deeper relationships with the God of Israel and for his cleansing from leprosy, Gehazi, out of greed, brought shame, curses and death on himself and his generations yet unborn. He reasoned to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman… as surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”


Greed presents man from rational thinking because what the greedy pursue blinds the mind from right or wrong. As he was running after Naaman, the spirit of the Lord was showing Elisha the screen of Gehazi’s terrible arrangements. He told lies against Elisha his master to win the sympathy of the man.


He got more than what he wanted because of greed. We should avoid the sin of greed in all our dealings in life and be contended with what we have.


QUESTION: What led Gehazi to Naaman and what can we learn from his experience?


PRAYER: Help me, Oh Lord, to overcome greed with an attitude of godliness and contentment as I live one day at a time, in Jesus name, Amen.



 

Remain Blessed

ECWA Food For The Day, 2022.

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