Psalm 75:6. For not from the east nor from the west nor from the south come promotion and lifting up.
Acts 8:18-20
[18]And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money,
[19]saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
[20]But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!
Everyone in this life desires promotion in one form or the other , it can be a first grader who wants to enter second grade next year or an athelete who got silver in the last olympics and of course every believer seeking promotion into heaven. We each have an intrisic desire to continue progressing ie. to be at a better place today than we were yesterday or tomorrow than we are today and this desire pushes us to extreme measures to achieve mostly because the world places value on accolades , possesions , wealth , power and position. I have nothing against the desire to be promoted because even scripture says in proverbs4:18 that our lives should continue to grow and glow like light that shines from dawn to noon , what i am against are the means to attain promotion and the motives behind the desire. Simon saw the status attained to the disciples because of their ability to give the holy spirit and wanted to buy such power because he also wanted status. Its a common behaviour in the world we live in , those with money are progressing more than those without because all things require some sort of bribe from getting your child into a choice school to being granted a job interview but Peter showed simon that not all things can be bought by money. Dont get me wrong Im not sayingyou cant excel through use of money being placed in the right hands but desire true promotion which can only come by God. Human effort and ingenuity when applied correctly brings promotion but its incomparable to the promotion that comes from being picked out by God. A clear example in scripture is when the dusciples decided to replace Judas iscariot when God had instructed them to tarry and wait for the holy spirit. It worked and human means selected a man Matthias who worked for the kingdom but the work he did will never compare to what Paul did for the gospel, a man promoted by God himself. All im saying is strive & do all you can in this life but wait also for Gods true elevation and you will impact beyond your wildest dreams and imagination.
stay blessed