Simon the magician became a believer and was baptized. He saw something in the apostles that was real, beyond magic, but his conversion had not yet dealt with his unholy ambitions. He still wanted to be center stage. He idolized the kind of power at work in the apostles. He wanted a franchise for himself. To use God is to make ourselves god. He foolishly thought he could buy it with money, when it can only be acquired by a complete abandonment of self to God. His heart was not right with God. His intentions and motives were not yet pure. Forgiveness would only be possible if his intent changed. That was going to be radical for Simon, and it will be for us.
“Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” Acts 8:19-24 (ESV)
