A man named Naaman was the commander of the Syrian army and he had great favor in the eyes of the Syrian king. However, Naaman had leprosy and was told that there was a prophet in Samaria who could heal him. Naaman asked the king of Syria if he could go find this prophet and the king gave him permission and told him to take some gifts to the king of Israel. Naaman eventually came before Elisha and was healed of his leprosy. In an effort to show his gratitude Naaman offered Elisha some of the treasures he had but Elisha graciously refused Naaman’s offer.
Gehazi, one of Elisha’s servants decided that they should take some of Naaman’s gifts, after all Elisha did heal him. So Gehazi found Naaman and lied to him saying Elisha decided to take some of the gifts. Gehazi then took the ill-gotten gifts her received from Naaman and hid them in a house. Upon returning to Elisha, Gehazi was questioned about his whereabouts and actions and of course he did not tell the truth. However, he was exposed by Elisah and then immediately judged for his deeds.
For those who serve God in any capacity and those of us who desire to serve God there is a very important question we must ask ourselves and that is what is our motivation? The unfortunate reality is God’s church has been exploited and while there are many who serve out of the goodness of their hearts; there are many more where this is not the case! Is our desire to serve God based on some underlying motive to profit for ourselves monetarily or socially? This message is not suggesting that those who labor for God should not be compensated or taken care of, but compensation should not be our motivating factor.
The word of God says that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added (Matthew 6:33). There are many who are like Gehazi that think we are entitled to certain privileges and status because of what we say we are doing for God. So instead of allowing those “things” to be added we begin to do things to make sure we get what we think we deserve.
While we may successfully hide our true intension from the folks around us because they have bought into our religious charade; we have not fooled God in the least bit. Elisha asked Gehazi, “Did not my heart gowith you when the man turned back from his chariot to meet you?” God is saying is not His heart/spirit everywhere we go; am I not all knowing? There are a lot of very prominent people going around teaching, preaching and prophesying operating in the very same spirit of Gehazi. The sad thing is many of them started out with pure intension but allowed desire of wanting more before it was divinely added to pervert their hearts.
Again, this is not about folk who labor for God not be well compensated; this is about when being compensated is our primary motivation. Elisha also asked Gehazi, “Is it time to receive money and to receive clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?” There is a time and a season for everything under the sun, even a time, if it is in God’s will for us, to have the things we desire added.
Whether it’s in church, on our jobs, or even among our family and friends we have to be mindful of our motivation for whatever we are doing. God would like nothing more than for us to serve Him by being a blessing to our fellow man, but the moment we expect something in return is where we open a door for the enemy to enter. There is nothing wrong if we accept someone’s token of gratitude, but the moment we start to expect something it is no longer a token of gratitude; it becomes our motivation.
