Elijah left Mount Horeb with renewed inspiration. He was planning to train someone to take his place. He spotted the man God had commanded him to call and flung his cloak over him. It was a representation of God’s anointing coming upon and covering him. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul declares, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14).”
Elisha wanted to say goodbye to his parents, but Elijah asked him to think about what had just transpired. He was summoned by God. What would prevent him from pursuing his goals? We saw nothing about his saying goodbye. That reminds us of the person who wanted to follow Jesus but decided to wait until his parents died. Jesus instructed him to let the dead bury the dead and to come and follow him (Matthew 8:22).
Elisha must have thought this was a special calling. He torched the tools he used to earn a living and cooked the cattle. He fed the people meat. He no longer had anything to return to. Today, we would refer to this as “burning our bridges.” Elisha intended to move forward and never look back. If God intended to use him, he needed to be free of distractions and fully available to God. In the next devotions, we will discover how much he valued God’s calling and anointing. His schooling began as a servant for Elijah. He would observe and learn from the man chosen by God.
Consider this: Many of us need a mentor to show us what it means to walk in the Spirit. We frequently have such bad models that we may need to look for a life we can admire and learn from. Do you have a Godly mentor?
