It is sad but true that some people love gifts more than their very lives. In other words, they are covetous and love to reap where they did not sow. In order not to be caught in this devilish snare, our Lord Jesus Christ warns us against covetousness in Luke 12:15. One man who loved gifts exceedingly was Elisha’s servant, Gehazi. His master rejected the gifts offered by someone who God had healed through him, because he understood the principle of “freely ye have received, freely give,” which led him to say in 2nd Kings 5:16a:
“As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none.”
However, greedy Gehazi was not happy with this response, so he decided to run after the rejected gifts. He went and collected them in secret, not knowing that in the realm of the spirit, “there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Luke 12:2). Imagine the shock he felt when Elisha said to Him in 2nd Kings 5:26:
“…Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?”
Dumbfounded, Gehazi could not answer these questions. You need to learn some critical lessons from this experience today, Gehazi did not know the spiritual eyes given to his master followed him as he executed his devious scheme. If Elisha’s spiritual eyes could see the things Gehazi did in secret, how much more will God’s eyes, which run to and fro the earth, see those who secretly toy with sin? Also, learn that there is a time for everything. There is a time to receive gifts and there are times they must be rejected. Elisha asked Gehazi whether it was the right time to receive gifts. Gehazi did not consider this when he went ahead to demand and not just receive gifts from Naaman. However, this earned him God’s judgment, and he instantly became leprous. Beloved, it is vain to run after gifts that are not approved of God. Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 says:
“He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?”
Beware of the love for gifts because some gifts are ill-motivated and can destroy your future, like it happened to Gehazi. May the Lord spare you the agony of gifts from ill-gotten wealth in Jesus’ Name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

This includes gifts of the spirit

kpakpandoN:
It is sad but true that some people love gifts more than their very lives. In other words, they are covetous and love to reap where they did not sow. In order not to be caught in this devilish snare, our Lord Jesus Christ warns us against covetousness in Luke 12:15. One man who loved gifts exceedingly was Elisha’s servant, Gehazi. His master rejected the gifts offered by someone who God had healed through him, because he understood the principle of “freely ye have received, freely give,” which led him to say in 2nd Kings 5:16a:
“As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none.”
However, greedy Gehazi was not happy with this response, so he decided to run after the rejected gifts. He went and collected them in secret, not knowing that in the realm of the spirit, “there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known” (Luke 12:2). Imagine the shock he felt when Elisha said to Him in 2nd Kings 5:26:
“…Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and maidservants?”
Dumbfounded, Gehazi could not answer these questions. You need to learn some critical lessons from this experience today, Gehazi did not know the spiritual eyes given to his master followed him as he executed his devious scheme. If Elisha’s spiritual eyes could see the things Gehazi did in secret, how much more will God’s eyes, which run to and fro the earth, see those who secretly toy with sin? Also, learn that there is a time for everything. There is a time to receive gifts and there are times they must be rejected. Elisha asked Gehazi whether it was the right time to receive gifts. Gehazi did not consider this when he went ahead to demand and not just receive gifts from Naaman. However, this earned him God’s judgment, and he instantly became leprous. Beloved, it is vain to run after gifts that are not approved of God. Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 says:
“He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?”
Beware of the love for gifts because some gifts are ill-motivated and can destroy your future, like it happened to Gehazi. May the Lord spare you the agony of gifts from ill-gotten wealth in Jesus’ Name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.