Plow or Burn?

Today I'm sharing a bit of a devotional I read this morning. I didn't write it but I'm sharing it because it makes good points. It's from 1Kings regarding the prophet Elijah and Elisha, his successor, in an overview style. Here we go!

Elijah has just endured the contest on Mt. Carmel where God dropped fire from the sky on Elijah’s sacrifice, completely consuming it. Then Elijah has all of the prophets of Baal killed, and Queen Jezebel (Ahab’s wife) puts a hit out on Elijah. So Elijah flees to Mt. Horeb, complains to God about the whole situation, then God tells him to go and anoint Elisha as his successor (and also to anoint some folks as Kings in a couple of countries).

Elijah goes and finds Elisha and “threw his cloak around him.” (1 Kings 19:19) Elisha was plowing his field with five friends/servants, each one of them driving a pair of oxen. Elisha stops plowing and runs after Elijah, whose method of anointing successive prophets could have been classified as a drive-by anointing since he threw his cloak on Elisha and kept going. Elisha asks to say goodbye to his parents, and Elijah grants his request.

Then Elisha does something very, very important: he slaughters the oxen he was plowing with, burns the plowing equipment to cook the meat, then gave it to the people (Elijah, Elisha’s parents, and the servants/friends). Did you get that? He killed his oxen and burned his plowing equipment.

That’s symbolic, but also very practical. Elisha’s actions showed that he was willing to leave his old life behind to the extent that he destroyed everything that linked him to his old life. There’s a term used often in the OT that translates to “totally destroy” in English. Whenever you see that, you’re reading exactly what happens here. It means they committed things to God through the act of destroying them. It was considered as a way to “show God you were serious” about following Him.

So this is me again....Elisha destroyed his ability to make a living as he had prior to following Elijah. That was no longer an option in his new walk. I loved that part because it is so significant. We struggle to give up anything. There are times I can look back to the place in my life when I dedicated myself to God. A lot of things changed, some seemed sacrificial, others were not; but change was all around me. Sacrificing self is not a one time event when you walk out a faith walk following Jesus. We daily have choices to make about what we will or choose not to sacrifice. Some days we're more willing than others. I no longer see what I walked away from as a sacrifice.

Sacrificing self, to me, is harder than walking away from possessions or things. It seems to me this is where our real sacrifice lies. What are we willing to sacrifice of our 'self' to put Jesus and godly living first? It's not a part time job, it's a lifestyle. Sometimes, as in Elisha's case, people need the symbolism of sacrificing their own 'oxen' if just for themselves. So today I challenge you to search your heart and see what 'oxen' you may have made 'holy' in your life and exempt from sacrifice. I, personally, want to see a spiritual bonfire in my life where any hidden oxen are up in flames.