Thought for the Day – Monday 25th May
‘Now when the Lord was about to
take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way
from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far
as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I
will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who
were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the
Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep
silent.” Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to
Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not
leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at
Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord
will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be
silent.” Then Elijah
said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the
Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not
leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets
also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by
the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water;
the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them
crossed on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me
what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me
inherit a double share of your spirit.” He responded, “You have asked a hard
thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you;
if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire
and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a
whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father!
The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him,
he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He picked up the
mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank
of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and
struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had
struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and
Elisha went over. When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a
distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” One of our favourite places to visit as a family when we lived in America was a typical white New England Clapperboard house set among the trees just off Route 495 and about ten minutes from our home by car. In a way it was too handy because we could just pop along any time – after school, after work, after shopping – any excuse really! That house was called Hebert’s and once inside it was quite magical – especially for two young boys! For you see on the right-hand side of the house all the Hebert Candies and Chocolates were on display and that display and the candy wrappings changed with each season or festival of the year be that Thanksgiving, Easter or Christmas, Memorial Day, July 4th or Hallowe’en. However, it was the other side of the house we usually visited most often for there you could pick the size of bowl you wanted, move on to choose the flavour of ice-cream you wished and how many scoops, then move over to the hot and cold toppings – like butterscotch or cherries or maple syrup or chocolate sauce and add as much as you wanted – and then finally move over to the fixings where you could add nuts or sprinkles or ‘jimmies’ or chocolate and so on! The choice at each part of the process was always amazing and so even if you went for a year you could manage to never have the same combination twice! Wonderful!
All that choice, all that ‘picking and mixing’ got me thinking about how often we pick and mix in our faith! Sometimes within our faith we only pick the things we like to do or the things that are easier to do or the things that won’t rock the boat and gladly do them. We can be inclined to never pick the things which we don’t like to do or that are harder to do or that will rock the boat and so we shy away from them meaning they never get done. However, what happens if we all like doing the same things and we all choose to do them alone, what if no one picks justice and chooses to speak out for others, what if no one chooses to be forgiving to others and so on, surely that then means that some things will never get done and God’s plan for his world and his people might then be thwarted. When we have faith we have to make the right choices – both the likeable and the disliked, both the easy and the hard, both the safe and the controversial, for if we don’t we fail to work for God in the world today as he calls us to do.
Elisha knew what he had to do and he chose to do it.
Having been with Elijah he knew in his calling to be a prophet that there would be some things that would be easier than others, that some would be very difficult and indeed most would rock the boat – for was not that the way of a prophet. Yet, gladly he took up the mantle of Elijah, knowing God’s Spirit was with him in all he had to do as God’s messenger. Elisha picked up the mantle and just got on with the task in hand and that is what we need to be doing today - no matter how reluctant we may be, no matter how difficult or controversial it may be – we need to know God’s spirit is with us and make the right choices for God’s work to continue in the world and no matter how wonderful or enjoyable we feel it to be just stop picking and mixing!
Prayer
Loving Lord,
As you moved in the lives of Elijah and Elisha, move in our lives
today. Grant us the courage we need to make the right choices for you and not
‘pick and mix’ for us, to journey with you, to trust you, to listen for your
voice guiding us and empowered by your Spirit to speak your word into the
world. May we be faithful servants answering your call on our lives. In Jesus’
name we pray. Amen
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