The Call to Service

Elijah journeyed to Abel-Meholah to find a successor, and lo, in the goodness of God, he found a companion. For the fiery prophet’s trials were not yet ended, and he was henceforward to be comforted by the fellowship of a kindred heart. “Two are better than one, for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow” (Eccl. 4:9-10). How truly Elisha refreshed his master’s spirit is suggested by the words in 2 Kings 3:11: “He poured water on the hands of Elijah.” In 1 Kings 19:21 it is said: “He arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.”
A pleasant picture is exhibited to us in 1 Kings 19:19­-21. In the midst of Baal worshippers, a pious farmer pur­sued his course, his soul doubtless sorely grieved by the apostate condition of God’s people, yet himself wholly separate in heart and mind from the prevailing unfaith­fulness. His call to service and testimony came to him when Elijah passed by. The call is given in 1 Kings 19:19; his anointing is found in 2 Kings 2:9. In like manner, the apostles of our Lord heard the call in Matthew 4:18, etc., and received the anointing in Acts 2.
It was but the work of a moment, Elijah’s casting of his mantle upon Elisha, but it was the turning point in his spiritual history. It the great crisis of his life. If he had failed to perceive the significance of that moment his whole after career would have missed the divine intention.
Similar crises occur in the history of souls today; what we need is the spiritual sensibility to recognize them when they come. Thus a disciple may hear the distinct call of the Lord to forsake all and devote himself to the work of the Gospel in a wild land. If he hesitates, the honor may pass by him forever. If, on the other hand, he humbly submits himself to the divine mandate, his whole course is “Forward” from that moment. Our lives, as far as use­fulness is concerned, are either made or lost by ability to discern these crises when they arise. We are only really useful when in the place where God would have us.
Elisha left all to follow devotedly the footsteps of another. Here is our example. “Follow thou Me” is the voice of Christ (John 21:22). Let us cultivate the spirit of Ruth in her fervent outburst to Naomi: “Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me” (Ruth 1:16, 17). This is devotion indeed.
Further, Elisha left all to tread a path of loss. Elijah was a proscribed man, and danger tracked his every step. From the quietness and security of the farm, Elisha went forth to be his disciple. His complete breach with the past seems indicated by the fact that he not only slew the oxen, but also “boiled their flesh with the implements.” So to speak, he burned his boats behind him. From that day there was to be no looking back. We, brethren, are followers of a rejected Christ. Loss, not gain; suffering, not ease, are the appointed accompaniments of true dis­cipleship. Are we really prepared for these things! Our apostle trod an unparalleled path (his account of it will be found in 2 Cor. 11:12); but what sustained him therein! Hear him in Philippians 3:7-8: “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowl­edge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but rubbish, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him.”