Living With Passion
“And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.” (2 Kings 2:1-10)
Today’s Morsel: One of the requirements for ministry, I believe, is that of passion. If one does not have a strong sense of passion for what God may be calling them to do, or what their spiritual leadership may ask them to do, then they should probably stay away from ministry. I know that that may seem harsh, but this is not a playground, this is warfare. This is protecting and saving peoples’ lives and going into hostile territory. This duty requires commitment, dedication, and devotion to duty. Jesus even said that no man can serve two masters. He further stated “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.” (John 15:18-20)
Elijah’s request to Elisha to not follow him, I believe, was a test to see his passion. Elijah knew that ministry is a 100% commitment and devotion. I also believe that Elisha understood this because he was willing to sacrifice his oxen and leave his family to go after his calling. I am not being critical here, but ministry is Active Duty, not Reserves who only meet on the weekends. If parttime is your understanding of serving God, you will soon lose your passion for your calling. If you will notice, Elijah never asks Elisha what he wanted until he crosses the Jordan River. I believe that Elisha had now proven himself as committed to the call; and so, he, Elisha requests a double portion of Elijah’s anointing. Elijah knew that it did not come from him, it came from God. And if Elisha saw him go up, the anointing would come down. And it came down upon him. If you say that you have the anointing, then you ought to have the same passion as Christ and his disciples had. As Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” (Luke 4:18); John said, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” (1 John 2:27) If you have the anointing, you ought to have the passion. And if you say you have the Holy Ghost, you should have the passion that comes with the anointing.
Sing: Anointing fall on me; Anointing fall on me; Let the power of the Holy Ghost, fall on me; anointing fall on me.
Thought For Today: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
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