6/28

1 Kings 19:20-21

²⁰Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss my father and mother good-by," he said, "and then I will come with you." "Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?" ²¹So 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.

Elijah left Mount Horeb with fresh inspiration. He was going to train someone to take his place. He saw the man God had told him to call and threw his cloak upon him. It was a picture of the anointing of God coming upon him and covering him. We have the same picture in the New Testament when the Apostle Paul says, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14).

Elisha wanted to say good-bye to his parents, but Elijah asked him to consider what had just happened. He was called of God. What would hold him back or deter him? We read nothing of him saying good-bye. That reminds us of the person that wanted to follow Jesus but wanted to wait until his parents died. Jesus told him to let the dead bury the dead, but come and follow him (Matthew 8:22).

Elisha must have considered this to be a great calling. He burned the implements that he used to make a living and roasted the oxen. He fed the people with the meat. He no longer had anything to go back to. Today we would call this "burning our bridges." Elisha planned to go forward and never look back. If God wanted to use him, he wanted to be undistracted and completely available to God. We will see in coming devotions how he highly prized the calling and anointing of God. His training started as a servant to Elijah. He would observe the man that God was using and learn from him.

Consider: Many of us need a mentor to give us an example of what it is to walk in the Spirit. We often have such poor examples that we may need to search for a life we respect and can learn from. Do you have a godly mentor?