Elisha's Journey

Pick Up Your Cross and Follow Me

Matthew 16:24 (AMP) - Discipleship Is Costly
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].”

• What does this mean for us? The call to follow Christ will look a little different for each of us, but the common feature is that nothing will be off limits to God. Our lives will begin to take on the flavor of the surrender, sacrifice, and service of the cross.
• In the promise of following God you will have to leave some things behind.

1 Kings 19:19-21 (AMP)
19 So Elijah departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his mantle (coat) on him.

A. God knew Elisha before Elijah did
B. This should give us solace, that God has a plan even if we don’t know
C. God was shifting the order of things
D. And when a shift comes you will have to leave somethings behind
E. Notice he found him working, not waiting but working
F. God takes every servant he plans to use through a process

When God is taking you through his process, we must hold on to the promise, to receive the final product.

20 He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother [goodbye], then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go on back; for what have I done to [stop] you?”

A. God often calls you to leave what you know so I can show you where he's taking you.

21 So Elisha left him and went back. Then he took a pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their meat with the implements of the oxen [as fuel], and gave the meat to the people, and they ate. Then he stood and followed Elijah, and served him.

Sacrifice

• Elisha left everything behind, all his wealth - Gave it all away - Burned it, no turning back

Surrender

• Elisha walked away from his lucrative position as CEO of Elisha Farms, Inc., literally cooking his old way of life and having it for dinner. Elijah was his new master. There was no “plan B,” nothing to fall back on.
• Elisha responds by throwing the barbeque of the year, cooking up all 24 of his oxen and even burning his plowing equipment. Then he runs after Elijah.

Service

• Elisha went from being the top dog to being an unpaid intern for a wanted man.
• For the next several years, Elisha would be doing menial tasks for Elijah—doing his laundry, making his breakfast, bringing him coffee.
• This is not something unique to Elisha. Whenever God calls people in Scripture, they nearly always first go through a time of humbling.
• In the kingdom of God, the way up is the way down.

Submit, Sacrifice, Serve, Sow

Jesus and The Rich Young Ruler - Matthew 19:16-30 (MSG)
16 Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17 Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.”
18-19 The man asked, “What in particular?”
Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.”
20 The young man said, “I’ve done all that. What’s left?”
21 “If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.”

• Jesus simply touched on one issue that proved the man did not measure up to God’s holiness. The man was not willing to follow the Lord, if that meant he must give up his wealth. Thus, the man was breaking the two greatest commands; he did not love the Lord with all his heart, and he did not love his neighbor as himself. He loved himself (and his money) more. Far from keeping “all” the commandments, as he had claimed, the man was a sinner like everyone else. The Law proved it.

22 That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go.
23-24 As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom? Let me tell you, it’s easier to gallop a camel through a needle’s eye than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.”
25 The disciples were staggered. “Then who has any chance at all?”
26 Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”
27 Then Peter chimed in, “We left everything and followed you. What do we get out of it?”
28-30 Jesus replied, “Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”

The Big Payback

2 Kings 2:1-15 (AMP)
1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
B. this statement reminds us of Ruth not leaving Naomi
3 Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” He said, “Yes, I know it; be quiet [about it].”
4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.
5 The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; be quiet [about it].”
6 Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.
7 Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood opposite them [to watch] at a distance; and the two of them stood by the Jordan.
8 And Elijah took his mantle (coat) and rolled it up and struck the waters, and they were divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 And when they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”
10 He said, “You have asked for a difficult thing. However, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”
11 As they continued along and talked, behold, a chariot of fire with horses of fire [appeared suddenly and] separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” And he no longer saw Elijah. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces [in grief].
13 He picked up the mantle of Elijah that fell off him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.
14 He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he too had struck the waters, they divided this way and that, and Elisha crossed over.
15 When the sons of the prophets who were [watching] opposite at Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him [in respect].

• Elisha Succeeds Elijah
• There is a season between being anointed and operating and functioning in your call
• Period: at 12 Jesus was flowing, but it was not yet time
• Period: David was called, but was not operating in his call

No man who puts his hand on the plough and looks back is worthy of my kingdom - Matthew 6:24

Discussion Questions

1. What does “taking up your cross” look like in daily life today?
2. Why is surrender so essential in true discipleship?
3. How does Elisha’s response to Elijah’s call model complete commitment?
4. What can we learn from Elisha burning his plows and oxen?
5. How does the story of the rich young ruler reveal the danger of divided loyalty?
6. What does it mean that “the way up is the way down” in the kingdom of God?
7. In what ways does God prepare us through seasons of service and humility?
8. How can we stay faithful in the “process” before our calling fully manifests?
9. What does Elisha’s persistence (“I will not leave you”) teach us about following God?
10. Why is it dangerous to “look back” once we’ve chosen to follow Jesus?

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