MY DAILY COVENANT WITH GOD DEVOTIONAL
Devotion for Saturday January 18, 2020
Topic: The Call of Elisha Text: 1 Kings 19:19
– 21
Elijah
found Elisha by Divine direction, not in the schools of the prophets, but in
the field; not reading, or praying, or sacrificing, but ploughing the field. Idleness is no man's honour, nor is husbandry any man's
disgrace. No wonder the saying that “There is dignity in labour.”
The cloak was
the most important article of clothing a person could own. It was used as
protection against the weather, as bedding, as a place to sit, and as luggage.
It could be given as a pledge for a debt or torn into pieces to show grief.
Elijah put his cloak on Elisha’s shoulders to show that he would become
Elijah’s successor.
Throwing
the mantle on Elisha may be a method of calling someone into an office of a
prophet or servant for Elisha to have responded the way he did in verses 20 and
21. Later, when the transfer of authority was complete, Elijah left his cloak
for Elisha (2 Kings 2:11-14).
By killing his oxen, Elisha made a strong
commitment to follow Elijah. Without them, he could not return to his life as a
wealthy farmer. This meal was more than a feast among farmers. It was an
offering of thanks to the Lord who chose Elisha to be his prophet. Elisha
didn’t waste time to follow Elijah. It was instantaneous. He destroyed what
would have enticed him to go back into farming.
Have you parted with those
things you were doing when God called you that can distract you from running
the heavenly race well? If you have not done that, better do something about it
now.
Food for Thought: Luke 5:11
Memory verse: Luke 9:61
Prayer:
Lord, cut off anything that distracts me from running this heavenly race well
in Jesus name.
