Daily Scripture Threshing for Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Today’s Text: 1 Kings 19:19-21
Key Verse: 1 Kings 19:21 (ESV) — “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.”
We all have one unfinished business or the other: something belonging to the past that we need to deal with or work on. Something that has not yet been put under control, which is a yoke, and is capable of pulling us down or drawing us back except we deal with it. Unfinished business can make a committed Demos to abandon his commitment and draw back to the love of this world. The New Testament example of Demas pictures a popular limitation of man. It is not a coincidence that his name, in Greek, means popular.
The example we have of Elisha calls us to the unpopular: something we don’t like to do. However, there is no soldier of the cross that entangles himself with civilian affairs that is fit for the army of the Lord. Like Elisha, each of us must return to break and burn his yokes. Of course, it is rightly so-called because anything that is capable of pulling us back is a yoke. Elisha sacrificed his oxen and boiled all their flesh to symbolize a radical detachment from his distraction. This sets an example for any servant of the Lord. We all must be ready to mortify the flesh and all its distractions. Our Lord, Jesus Christ admonishes us in John 6:63 that it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit.
As God’s children, we are called to a glorious assignment. We must burn any bridge that takes us back to the past. Each decision we make for Christ because of the great duty to which we are called is like Elisha’s farewell feast to the system of the world. We are not sorry for our decision. We do not sorrow at our departure. Unfinished businesses may look enticing and lucrative; but the joy that is set before us is brighter and better. This gives us a sense of celebration, not of sorrow. Therefore, we are able and happy to look away. Like Elisha, do you desire a double portion of grace and power? Ask yourself this question: Am I also ready, like him, to bid adieu to my past? This is a call to be ready to part with life’s dainties if need be, or called to do so.
Quote for the Day: “There is much confusion about the mantle in our days. The power side to mantle is not incorrect; but it is incomplete. Elijah’s mantle upon Elisha is primarily a sign of servanthood and succession.” (Simon Olatunji)
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me so that, having placed my hands on the plough, I will never look back, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
With all my love and prayers,
Rev Simon Wale Olatunji, PhD
The Darling Bishop (DaBishop),
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