There are MANY lessons that we can learn from the prophet Elisha. This is the first of a series focusing on the life of this great prophet.
“Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.’ And he replied, ‘As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.'” (2 Kings 2:4) You probably are familiar with the story: Elijah is taken up to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, and the only one to see him go is his servant and friend, Elisha. When Elijah asks Elisha what he can give him before he leaves the Earth, Elisha asks for a double portion of his spirit. He is told that if he sees Elijah ascending to Heaven, he will receive his request. And as Elisha watches the prophet disappear into the sky, Elijah’s cloak floats to the ground. A final gift. This story is rich in lessons to be learned, but the one I want to focus on today is the one that happened just before. Elijah and Elisha are on their way to the place God is leading Elijah to. Elijah knows he will soon be leaving the Earth, and he knows that his departure will probably be very hard on his understudy, Elisha. So, in his selfless love, Elijah admonishes him to “stay here!” He doesn’t just say it one time, but three! He says it at Gilgal (vs. 1), he says it at Bethel (vs. 4), and he repeats it again at Jericho (vs. 6)! But each time, Elisha refuses. Each time his answer is the same: “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you!” Now why, you may ask, did Elijah tell Elisha to stay behind, when we know that he had a great gift to bestow upon him? There could be any number of reasons, just as there could be any number of reasons why Elisha refused. But I would like to share with you one that you may not have thought of! I would like to propose that Elisha was being tested! And only if he passed the test would he be worthy of the gift! Okay. So he was being tested. But how? The road that Elisha would have to walk with his mentor would be their last together. Elisha knew this. After this walk, he would no longer be able to rely on his teacher. He would have to walk alone. So why not start right now? Why not save himself some shoe leather, and begin his job as the new prophet immediately? You know, stop relying on Elijah, and start relying on himself! But Elisha didn’t do this. He valued every moment of being with his teacher. He preferred to walk with Elijah than to begin his walk alone. Often in life, we face similar choices. We can either choose to walk with God, or we can choose to go our own way. If we, like Elisha, choose to spend every possible moment with God, walking with Him until the end, we will never be led astray. But if we give into the temptation to do our own thing at our own time, we are bound to go astray! Learn an important lesson from Elisha, my friends! When the road of life brings you to a fork and you must decide which way to go, the way of your own will, or the way of the Lord, don’t give in to the temptation to do your own thing. Instead, stay steadfast in your walk with the Lord. For in the end, you will, like Elisha, be richly rewarded! I invite you to visit next Thursday’s edition of The Illustrator for Lessons From Elisha, Part 2. Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org , ]]>
(To access the entire “Lessons From Elisha” mini-series, please click here.)