April 26, 2024
Pastor Darin Youngberg
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Daily Bread April 20 2017
Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2017 by Bro_D
So… my Bible falls open to…
1 Kings 19:19-21 Elijah left and found Elisha plowing a field with a pair of oxen. There were eleven other men in front of him, and each one was also plowing with a pair of oxen. Elijah went over and put his own coat on Elisha. (20) Elisha stopped plowing and ran after him. "Let me kiss my parents good-by, then I'll go with you," he said. "You can go," Elijah said. "But remember what I've done for you." (21) Elisha took his oxen and killed them and boiled them over a fire he had made with the wood from his plow. He gave the meat to the people who were with him, and they ate it. Then he left with Elijah and became his assistant.
I remember being in elementary school on the playground. I wasn’t the biggest kid on the sandlot… I wasn’t the fastest kid … and I certainly wasn’t one of the popular kids. So when it came time to pick teams for kickball …. I hated it. Nobody wants to be picked last – you know.. the one where the captain that makes the last pick just looks at you and gives a nod …. As if to say, “if I gotta have ya, come on… just go stand somewhere .. out of the way!” So when you get picked in the early rounds or even are the FIRST pick – you feel really good.
Elijah, the great prophet of God has just chosen Elisha to his assistant. The mantel (cloak) was being passed to the next man & Elisha was that next man. He had been chosen! Elisha knew what that meant. He at least had an inkling about the sacrifice of service – he may not have totally understood it, but he knew he was about to enter into a life of complete surrender to his LORD. So he wants to say good-bye to those whom he loves. Sounds reasonable. Even Elijah says he can do it. BUT .. Elijah ALSO says, “understand what just happened here … think about it … you can go, but is that the best thing to do in this situation?”(V.20).
I am always looking for OT & NT parallels. Check out Jesus’ Words:
- Matthew 10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
- Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
- Luke 9:61-62 Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home." (62) Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
In v. 21, Elisha takes his oxen, kills them and sacrifices them with the fire he built using the wood from his plow! Do ya think he took his call seriously? When Jesus called the 12, did they take that call seriously? In Mark 2, when Jesus called Levi (Mathew) from his busy tax office, how did Levi respond? Did he pack up his office? Did he give 2 weeks notice? Or did he get up from his chair and follow Jesus? (HINT: it’s the last one! –see Mark 2:14)
The question of the day seems to be: Do we take our call to follow Jesus seriously? Or do we make excuses and rationalizations that enable us to keep our oxen and our plow? Do we try and manipulate the Word in order to find loop holes so we can keep living our lives the way we want while calling ourselves followers of Jesus? Listen once again to Jesus:
- Matthew 10:38-39 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (39) Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
- Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (25) For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Two SEPARATE times Jesus hammers this point home. If He says it once, we ought to pay attention, but how much more should we sit up and take notice when He says it twice?
His Word is there to feast on! GO …. EAT … BE FILLED!