Heart probe

Naaman: "Please take a gift from your servant."
Elisha: "I will receive nothing..." 
(Artist unknown)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 5:15-27

TO CHEW ON: "Then he (Elisha) said to him (Gehazi), '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, vineyards, sheep and oxen, male and female servants?'" 2 Kings 5:26

When Gehazi ran after Naaman to get some of the "my precious" that Naaman had offered Elisha, and then lied about it, he showed himself to be more than just deceitful. Elisha's rhetorical question (2 Kings 5:26) exposed his underlying materialism and covetousness.

God's ability to see/read/know our hearts and actions is reiterated throughout the Bible:

• God to Noah: "'I have seen that you are a righteous man before Me in this generation'" Genesis 7:1. 
• David:

"O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways….etc." Psalm 139:1-12 

• Solomon:

"Hell and Destruction are before the Lord;
So how much more the hearts of the sons of men" - Proverbs 15:11.

• Jesus:

"But Jesus knew their thoughts…" - Matthew 12:25 

"But Jesus perceived their wickedness…" - Matthew 22:18.

"But immediately when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves…" - Mark 2:8.

God, who knows our thoughts, motivations, and actions can communicate them to others, as He did here.

He can also reveal our hearts to us. We can pray as David did:

"Behold You desire truth in the inward parts
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom" - Psalm 51:6 (emphasis added).

And:

"Search me, O God and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxieties
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting" - Psalm 139:23,24 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear God, please give me insights into, and the desire to deal with my own sneaky heart. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.