Deception, a symptom of the Gehazi syndrome

Back in my former days as a student at Harding University some of the most remarkable memories come from meal times in the cafeteria. One particular day some students were taking bananas from the line, mashing them with their hands without opening the peeling and placing them back in the fruit basket for others to take. The purpose of squooshing the banana was to play a prank on them by deception. The fruit appeared as though it had not been touched, but when the banana was opened the student would realize they were the victim of a good banana squooshing.

The purpose of deception is to mislead someone by a false appearance or statement. One such character in the Bible who used deception to their advantage was Gehazi, Elisha's servant in 2 Kings 5. On the heels of the story of the cleansing of Naaman the leper we find the response from Gehazi who became upset because his master, Elisha, wouldn't take a present from Naaman. Gehazi came up with a plan to use deception against Naaman in order to get a present for himself. He ran after Naaman and told him a story about two young men of the sons of the prophets who had come to stay with them and they needed two talents of silver and two changes of clothes. Naaman knew that Gehazi was Elisha's servant, so he was deceived into believing this was true. Gehazi's appearance and story was used to deceive Naaman out of the present. Gehazi ultimately paid the price for his deception when Elisha confronted him about the matter and struck him with the leprosy from which Naaman had been cleansed.

Jeremiah said "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer. 17:9) Have you deceived anyone lately. Granted you might not have mushed up any bananas to pull a prank on someone, but perhaps you've been giving the appearance by your actions in order to deceive. It's a heart condition, and it's one of the symptoms of the Gehazi syndrome that can only be cured by the Great Physician. Will you seek the help you need today?