- And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. 1 Kings 19:21 – After a short sabbatical with the Lord, Elijah is stepping back into action as God’s prophet to Israel, and his first action back was to anoint Elisha as his successor. Elisha was working the field with 12 yoke of oxen when Elijah came to him and placed his prophet’s cloak on him, a sign in their day that Elisha was being called by the Lord to the prophet’s work. What was Elisha’s response? He went back home, sacrificed the 24 oxen he had been working with, gave it to the people there, and went to follow Elijah in the Lord’s work. While not focused on in the passage, to have at least 24 oxen to work with in the field meant Elisha was quite wealthy, but he was willing to give it all away to serve the Lord. Unlike the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19, who was also wealthy but refused to give up his wealth to follow Jesus. Let passages like this remind us to not box people into categories of “they would never follow Jesus.” Wealthy people will follow Jesus, and so will poor people. People who currently follow other gods, people who are addicted to drugs, people who are living sinful lifestyles all can walk from those paths to pursue Jesus, and many do. Just because someone carries the label of wealthy, or Muslim, or prostitute, or junkie, or famous, don’t mark them off as pointless to share the Gospel to. The Gospel has changed the hearts of people in every people group and type on the planet, don’t then be the reason why a person doesn’t hear the Gospel because you assumed they wouldn’t listen. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3063
- 1 Kings 19 Daily DEVO And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13 – God isn’t always where we expect Him to be. For Elijah God wasn’t in the wind, earthquake, or the fire. God though was close enough to whisper to Elijah. We might expect God to be in places that He’s not as well. Like in a place of anger-filled judgement over us or very distant from us. Neither of which are places God is in. In your story then, is there places like this that you think God is at that He isn’t? Allow scripture to shape your understanding of God’s presence. Maybe God isn’t so far away as you’ve believed for so long, maybe He’s close enough to you that even a low whisper from Him can be heard by you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1020
- Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. 1 Kings 19:18 – God is always working beyond what our hands are doing. Here we have the Lord speaking to Elijah telling him what steps to take. Yet in the message the Lord closes with this encouragement for Elijah, that there were 7000 still in Israel who followed God. Elijah was under the impression he was the only one left and all his efforts in ministry had not gotten anywhere with turning people from their sinful ways. God revealed that He had been at work all this time turning hearts to Him and making His glory known. Maybe through some of the works of Elijah or maybe through the efforts of nameless, yet faithful followers spreading the glory of the Lord. God is always at work establishing His name. Take heart then knowing that you are not alone in following Jesus and God is using your faithfulness. Maybe like Elijah you don’t see the 100 prophets hidden in a cave, or the 7000 faithful followers, or the Elisha who is willing to leave wealth behind to follow God, but they are there. God has been at work this whole time, let’s remain faithfully given God everything we can. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2203
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