1 Kings 19:20 – June 26, 2022

Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please, let me kiss my father and mother good-bye, and I will follow you.” Elijah answered, “Go back! What have I done to you?” 1 Kings 19:20 NABRE                

Elijah a great prophet of the Hebrew people has completed his mission for God and is being sent by God to anoint his replacement. The anointing Elijah gives to his replacement Elisha is on par with that given to kings. His selection is provided by God and his anointing honors Elisha providing him with the support of God. But as Elijah goes to Elisha, he is busy on the family farm, plowing the field with oxen. His response is quite exemplary; he leaves everything behind and puts himself at the disposal of the prophet Elijah. He responds similarly to the response Jesus will receive from the apostles and it should be how we all respond to God’s call. The mission of God means leaving everything and doing whatever God requires of us. Jesus’ call is much more pressing than the call of Elisha by Elijah, God wants a prophet who can speak for Him, but Jesus needs missionaries who will be Him in the present time.

Initially Elisha first asks Elijah to allow him to say good bye to his father and mother but Elijah tells him forget it, if you need your parents, you cannot be a prophet for God. Jesus tells a similar response, “And another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.’ [To him] Jesus said, ‘No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:61-62) Obedience to a call requires a radical self-surrender, detaching yourself from people and things until you are stripped of them and only desire to do God’s will.

Are you standing in two places, God’s call and self-attachments? What is your mission for God?

Obedience to a call requires a radical self-surrender, detaching yourself from people and things until you are stripped of them and only desire to do God’s will. Click To Tweet

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