1 KINGS 19:19-21: So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was
plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him
and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please 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?” So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them
and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he
arose and followed Elijah, and served him.
On December 21, 1620, the Mayflower dropped anchor in Plymouth Bay. It had been a grueling
voyage across the Atlantic, taking the small ship 66 days to make the perilous crossing.
There had been disease, anxiety and even childbirth among the 102 courageous passengers.
Furthermore, they arrived on the bleak New England shore during a hard winter that ultimately
claimed the lives of half their number.
But when spring came and the captain of the Mayflower offered free passage to anyone desiring to
return, not a single person accepted. These folks had made a commitment and they were not turning
back.
Elijah’s call to Elisha brought the same response. As a farmer, Elisha had been plowing with 12 yoke
of oxen. When Elijah threw his mantle on this hardworking plowboy, Elisha took the very means of his
livelihood, a yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them to provide a farewell feast for his friends. In doing
so, he cut the ties to his old life and demonstrated his commitment to the ministry ahead of him.
Christians need to take this same step of commitment. We cannot live effectively for Christ if one foot
is in the faith and the other is in the world. We need to make a clean break with the past and live for
the Lord.
If God has called you to a particular kind of service, commit yourself unreservedly to it. Let your past
be the past. Put it behind you and move forward with God. There’s no greater ingredient for success
in serving God.
THERE’S NO ROOM FOR TURNING AROUND IN CHRIST’S SERVICE.