So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
1 Kings 19:19-21
Yesterday, Pastor Mark talked about the last part of Luke 9. He briefly mentioned the calling of Elisha and I had to read it for myself.
Elisha wasn’t poor. The Bible says that he had twelve yokes of oxen, which provided for his family and was the source of their sustenance and provision.
But, when Elisha is called, he follows in obedience. He asks Elijah if he can bid farewell to his family, as Matthew Henry explains, not to ask leave of them, but rather to take leave from them.
His plow was the source of everything he had. Without it, what could he provide?
Before he goes, Elisha lights it on fire.
Is that you? Are you like Elisha?
Has God called you to leave everything behind? (Yes.)
What must you set aflame?
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:62
Jesus doesn’t promise that everything will go well for us. We may not have a big house, or a house at all. Jesus didn’t have one. We may hurt; it could be painful. Jesus was betrayed. We might not live to see sixty, fifty, forty, thirty, twenty-one. Jesus died.
These past weeks, God’s revealed a lot of things that I look back towards. Pastor Mark said that those that look back are those that go back. I look back at my relationships. I look back on my career plans. I look back on the need to know what’s going on. I look back on my own importance.
All of that is empty. He took a lot of it away. He taught me how to be happy when it’s just me and him. His love remains constant in times when the Holy Spirit can be felt powerfully, like music filling a room, and when circumstance has everything crumbling apart through your fingers.
His love is always true.
He bids the three in Luke 9 to leave security and comfort: forget about the uncertainty of whatever riches you have and instead place your hope in God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy, that we would look to his glory!
Be ready to set everything on fire; you don’t look back on ashes.
Father, show me what I’m still looking back at—make me an arsonist. Commit my life to the Gospel, that I might live for your Word, willing to die for your Word.
