chpt 4 of God own$

4 The Danger of Greed
Hans Christian Andersen once told the story about a poor farmer who had a goose. One day the goose laid a golden egg. The farmer was so surprised that he took the egg to the goldsmith’s shop and had it tested. It turned out to be of pure gold. Overnight, the farmer became a rich man, as the goose would lay one golden egg every morning.
Six months later, the farmer who was by then a very rich man, was counting all his cash and drawing up his financial projections. He was so consumed by his future income prospects that he said to himself, “Why do I have to wait to collect my gold daily? Why not take it all now?”
So he killed the goose and opened up her stomach, wanting to take all the gold! We know the rest of the story – no eggs and no more goose! The farmer, driven by greed, lost everything!
The god of greed and materialism is prevalent in every affluent society today, in different ways and through different manifestations but the drive is the same. There is an exaltation of the earthly over the heavenly and the material over the spiritual. Jesus called this god Mammon.
The encounter between Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, and Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, in 2 Kings 5 will show us that we serve God and not Mammon. Prior to the encounter, God dealt with Naaman’s pride. When that pride was laid aside, the power of God was released. Naaman, who had leprosy, was healed. His soul was converted and he acknowleged the God of Israel. He also realized he could not buy God’s blessings. Instead, he had to humbly seek and receive. That was why Elisha refused to accept Naaman’s gifts after the healing. Gehazi, however, had an eye on the reward and the monster of greed began to work its evil.

6 Characteristics of Greed
1. Greed is Hidden
2 Kings 5:20 says, “Gehazi…said to himself…” In other words, Gehazi was greedy in his heart. Greed tends to be hidden. It dwells in secrecy and is often unknown to those around us. The covetousness that is inside is known only to God and to us. If we allow the searchlight of God’s Word to shine into the depths of our souls, we may just see the monster of greed lurking there. Pehraps that is why some of us do not seems satisfied with our current lot in life.

2. Greed Rationalises
Greed will always give us a reason for wanting to possess or accumulate more. It will always find good reasons for us to upgrade our homes or change our cars. Gehazi rationalized that perhaps Elisha had been too easy on Namman. Wasn’t it only right that Naaman gave some money to Elisha? After all, he was a rich man. Prophets, too, needed retirement funds! But who was the money really for? Gehazi himself! This is how greed works in us too! We can excuse it by saying that it is evidence that God is blessing us.
It can be hard to draw the line between need, greed and providence. Greed can be very quickly turn a luxury into a need. We require honesty and discernment to overcome this tendency to rationalize.

3. Greed is Compulsive
Greed can never be satisfied. The more you get, the more you want. In God’s eyes, greed is not a small thing. It is, in fact, tantamount to idolatry! Once we bow our knees to mammon, we will be enslaved. The grip of mammon may be so tight that it is difficult for us to break loose except by the power of God. Jesus said in Mark 10:25, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” But it is not just the rich who can be greedy; the poor can be greedy too. It is not just the rich who can be greedy; the poor can be greedy too. It is not what you do or do not have; it is the condition of your heart and your attitude towards money and possessions.
Let us ask God to set our hearts free from discontentment and greed, and to enjoy whatever He has blessed us with instead of striving for more.

4. Greed is Deceptive
Gehazi was so overcome by greed that he ended up lying to Namman and Elisha. In the same way, greed can cause us to scheme and deceive. If a Christian businessman is greedy, he is not above lying to close a deal or scheme for a break. Mark 8:36 tells us, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

5. Greed Distorts
If greed enters our lives, it distorts our value system. The difference in the value systems of Gehazi and Mary (Mark 14:3-9) is the difference between greed and love. Greed is calculating whereas love is extravagant.

6. Greed Destroys
Isn’t it ironical that what Naaman lost. Gehazi ended up having – leprosy! Gehazi’s heart was greedy. He schemed and finally body became corrupted. 1 Timothy 6:9 says, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.”
A man who is lost at sea finds water all around him and the temptation to drink is great. But the more he drinks, the thirstier he becomes. It would be suicidal to drink sea water. The only thing to do is wait for the heavens to open and the rain to fall.
Greed always leads to destruction; Gehazi was destroyed by leprosy.



CHOOSE CHRIST
At the start of this chapter, we talked about the goose and the golden eggs. We are all at different stages of our lives, and may fit into any of the following categories:

More golden eggs: Some of us have reached the stage of being able to share some golden eggs with others. Perhaps God is challenging you to increase the number of eggs you are giving away. This is particularly important if a church is moving into a new phase. If your church is entering into a building and expansion phase, there is a need to increase the staff strength for growth to be sustained. To have a more organized church with better infrastructure, everyone would have to contribute more in terms of time, treasure and talent.

Some golden eggs: There may be others whom God is challenging to confront materialism and greed. The best way to dethrone greed is to be generous. Go in the opposite spirit! Give like you have NEVER given before.

The golden goose: God may be challenging yet others to take an even greater step of faith. He is not only placing a demand on your golden eggs, but he is also asking you to surrender the golden goose. In other words, you are to surrender your wealth as well as the opportunity for future income through your career by serving Him full-time in the ministry.

If you sense that you have a call upon your life but find it so hard to give up what you have, know this: You will never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. Whatever you may feel that God is asking you to do – be it to surrender more of your golden eggs, surrender some of your golden eggs or surrender the goose that lays the golden eggs – do not fear because you will be surrendering your resources to the One who gave them to you in the first place.
What Gehazi was to Elisha in the Old Testament, Judas was to Jesus in the New Testament. Both of these men had the opportunity to become great in the kingdom of God but they missed it because their hearts were gripped by greed. Let us resolve not to miss God’s best because of greed but to pursue Christ with all heart, mind, soul and strength.