Abandon

“And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, ‘Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.’ And he said to him, ‘Go back again, for what have I done to you’” (1 Kings 19:20, ESV)?

Elijah lived a fairly solitary life. Elisha had a home and family. Elijah had very little. Elisha was likely wealthy, or at least his family was. We can assume that Elisha’s decision to follow Elijah cost him everything. But he never gave it a second thought.

He wasn’t concerned that his family might not accept his decision. He wasn’t apprehensive about how he would get his next meal, or the one after that.

Maybe he had a restlessness deep inside of him telling him that he was made for more than farming. Maybe he had spent his entire life working hard but finding no satisfaction, no inner peace. We may never know. But if his reaction is indicative of anything, it’s that he was ready when God called.

He didn’t feel the need to make a list of Pros and Cons. He didn’t think it necessary to sit down and count the cost. It had already been done. Money was no object; he wasn’t attached to anything but the call and the will of God.

Perhaps, like me, you can remember a time as a kid when you had a chance to participate in something that would get you in a lot of trouble if you were caught. But in an instant you decided that it would be worth the punishment, so you dove in head first.

Or maybe, again like me, you can remember times when you knew God wanted you to do something, but you esteemed that the cost was too great. Yesterday I told the story of one such time.

What can we do to prepare ourselves for reckless abandon at the call of God? What attachments do we have that would hinder us from going “all in?”

Blessings on your mindful Maundy Thursday!