Elijah invited Elisha to volunteer for a life-changing ministry.
Elisha said, “Let me go home and tell my folks goodbye
first.” This may have been a polite way of saying, “Give me some time to think
about it.”
“Hey, take as much time as you want,” Elijah replied. “Don’t
worry about it.” And then he let Elisha leave and go home. He didn’t feel the
need to say, “But if you don’t volunteer, think of what you’ll miss out on. And
if you don’t volunteer, think of what you’ll be depriving others of.”
He didn’t say any of that. He didn’t pressure Elisha or
coerce him or manipulate the deal at all. He didn’t use guilt. He didn’t use
any sales tactics. He didn’t insult Elisha by soft-peddling his offer or
reducing it to something that involved low levels of risk. (“Hey, why don’t you
just try it for a while? If it doesn’t work out, you can go back to ploughing
in the field. No hard feelings.”)
Elijah didn’t do any of that.
Many years later (in another Bible story), a rich young man
comes to see Jesus and asks, “What do I have to do to be one of Your
followers?”
Jesus tells him, “You know the Law. Don’t steal. Don’t lie.
Don’t commit adultery. Honour your parents. All that stuff.”
The guy says, “I know all that. I’ve done all that since I
was a kid. Anything else?”
Jesus says, “Well, there is this one thing. You need to
trust Me more than you trust your stuff. So go sell everything you own, give
the money away to the poor and then come follow Me.”
And here’s what happens next. The guy walks away. And Jesus
lets him go (see Mark 10:17-30).
Jesus doesn’t use manipulation. He never uses guilt. He also
doesn’t lower His standards. (“Hey, did I say everything? What if you just
start with half? Or 10 percent?”) Jesus doesn’t stoop to those kinds of
tactics. Neither did Elijah.
And neither should we.
But we should remember this. There is a window of
opportunity for each of us. God, in His grace, opens a window for us, giving us
each the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to join our meagre resources with
His abundance, the prospect of partnering with Him in the greatest adventure of
all time.
How long that window will stay open, no one knows. But it
does expire. And on the great day of reckoning that is to come, when all
accounts are settled and all the questions answered, the only words sadder than
“If only …” will be “Too late.”
Lord, You have given me the great dignity of inviting me to
participate in what You are doing in the world. I realize that I cannot
contribute anything to You, because You lack nothing and have no needs. Yet you
call me to participate, and You affirm that this decision will have everlasting
consequences. I do not want to miss out on Your call or wait until it is too
late. But I also know that it will take a real risk on my part to treasure and
implement Your call, especially because there are so many visible alternatives
that compete for my allegiance. You lead me in graciousness without compelling
or coercing me to do what You know is in my best interests. I am willing to do
Your will, and I ask for the power and spirit of obedience and trust that I
need to realize Your loving intentions for my life during my earthly sojourn.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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