ESOCS Devotional 4 October 2025 – The Consequences of Greed
MEMORY VERSE:“But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Namaan this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.” 2 Kings 5:20 KJV
TEXT: 2 KINGS 5:15-27
And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”
16 But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.
17 So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. 18 Yet in this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord please pardon your servant in this thing.”
19 Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a short distance.
20 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.” 21 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?”
22 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.’ ”
23 So Naaman said, “Please, take two talents.” And he urged him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of garments, and handed them to two of his servants; and they carried them on ahead of him. 24 When he came to [a]the citadel, he took them from their hand, and stored them away in the house; then he let the men go, and they departed. 25 Now he went in and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, “Where did you go, Gehazi?”
And he said, “Your servant did not go anywhere.”
26 Then he said to him, “Did not my heart go with you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you? Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants? 27 Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and your descendants forever.” And he went out from his presence leprous, as white as snow.
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The apostle Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “If you think you’re standing firm … be careful you don’t fall.” You can be confident of your strength – that you’re beyond reproach, a strong Christian, clued up. That confidence can deteriorate into a self-confidence and self-assurance and you become careless and let down your guard… Gehazi is a tragic example of that, as he succumbs to the sin of greed and covetousness.
After being made clean, Naaman brought all he had with him back to Elisha. He could have easily gone on his way but he didn’t. He wanted to honour the Lord and Elisha for his healing. He wanted to call out the Lord’s name, as above all other gods of the world. And he wanted grace and forgiveness for the actions he would be required to make in the future.
Naaman learned that day for certain that there was no other God in the entire world except the God of Israel. All the other gods being served held no power. Israel’s God held life and death in His hands. Naaman wanted to bind himself to that God. What better way to do it than to give an offering?
Elisha personally met with Naaman this time. But Elisha rejected all of it – the gifts brought by Namaan.. He simply and firmly said, “No thank you.” And he did it with grace.
Gehazi saw an opportunity to help himself to some of the wealth Elisha turned down. He knew that Naaman was more than willing to part with what he had brought. But Gehazi also knew that Naaman would be suspicious if he said that Elisha had changed his mind about accepting payment. He had to come up with a believable excuse to get some of the gifts Naaman brought. He also realized that he needed to only ask for a portion. There would be no way to hide all that Naaman had offered from Elisha.
The consequence was a leprous Gehazi banished by custom to die in the forest. He could have succeeded Elisha just as Elisha succeeded Elijah, but he lost everything out of greed.
CHALLENGES
- Have you thought about how many times you have been greedy and covetous?
PRAYER POINT
- Father God, I want nothing to come between us. Forgive me for any and all deception I have ever engaged in.
FURTHER READING: 2 Kings 6:1-16; 2 Corinthians 6:1-18
ESOCS Devotional 4 October 2025
