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Day 20Burn Your Plow
Thursday, March 8, 2018 “Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother good-bye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.’ ‘Go back,’ Elijah replied. ‘What have I done to you?’ So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.” I Kings 19:19
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Devotional:
Are you ready to be an Elisha and answer God’s call on your life? Like Elisha, is faith burning in your heart, making you yearn for the joy that comes from a life fully yielded to Christ?
Elisha left his hard-working but comfortable life, family, and familiar world to follow a man he did not know into a calling that had no job description, no job security, no health benefits, no 401K. Elisha did not say ‘yes’ from any other need except a deep unfathomable desire to be completely immersed in, submitted to His Father God.
I know that kind of response to God’s call. When He put His cloak on me two years ago, I, at last, yielded my entire self to leave my life of quiet despair and numbing self-destruction, to come to Hickory to get right with God and be with my dad in his last months of life..
Three things Elisha did in response to God’s call really resonated with me:
God had made following Him irresistible and infinitely desirable.
Quite often good-enough keeps us from doing great things for God.
Elisha served the oxen because he cared for his family. But, Elisha burned his plows because he was on fire for God.
Burning your plow doesn’t always mean you quit your job and move to a remote part of Africa. A plow could be a change of attitude towards a certain situation, severing an unhealthy relationship, or ending a harmful habit. Fellow Traveler, it is a glorious day when you can joyfully run to your calling, not hesitating to burn your plow.
Elisha left his hard-working but comfortable life, family, and familiar world to follow a man he did not know into a calling that had no job description, no job security, no health benefits, no 401K. Elisha did not say ‘yes’ from any other need except a deep unfathomable desire to be completely immersed in, submitted to His Father God.
I know that kind of response to God’s call. When He put His cloak on me two years ago, I, at last, yielded my entire self to leave my life of quiet despair and numbing self-destruction, to come to Hickory to get right with God and be with my dad in his last months of life..
Three things Elisha did in response to God’s call really resonated with me:
- Elisha had an immediate response. He ran to Elijah. Didn’t even hesitate. In Elisha’s mind, he had no other choice. I wouldn’t doubt that as soon as Elijah put the cloak on him, that Elisha shot up a Nehemiah prayer before running over to Elijah.
God had made following Him irresistible and infinitely desirable.
- Elisha had a humble, honest response. He knew it would be hard to leave his family and the life he knew, that it would be tempting to stay with a low-risk life that was maybe not great, but good enough. He burned and gave away the tools of his trade to ensure there was no turning back.
Quite often good-enough keeps us from doing great things for God.
- Elisha had a human response. He asked to say good-bye to his family before leaving everything behind. He cooked and served the oxen as an act of love and provision. He would miss his family, and they would miss him. Nothing would ever be the same again. Never again would Elisha stand behind oxen while they plowed the field. To paraphrase Jesus, now Elisha would be plowing for men.
Elisha served the oxen because he cared for his family. But, Elisha burned his plows because he was on fire for God.
Burning your plow doesn’t always mean you quit your job and move to a remote part of Africa. A plow could be a change of attitude towards a certain situation, severing an unhealthy relationship, or ending a harmful habit. Fellow Traveler, it is a glorious day when you can joyfully run to your calling, not hesitating to burn your plow.
Prayer: |
Lord God, show me if there is a plow that I need to burn or good-byes that need to be said. Help me to finally come to the end of myself to follow You on the Gospel Road.
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Song/Hymn: |
Start a Fire “Over and over again, I hear your voice in my head.. They need to know, I need to go…”
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