The other day I came across this story from 1 Kings 19 that really got my attention.

Long story short, a man named Elisha is out plowing his fields with the help of his oxen.  As he engages in this tedious work, the Prophet Elijah shows up and throws his mantle over Elisha.  (A mantle is a cape-like piece of clothing that functions as a symbol of spiritual authority.  It’s why we have the phrase “passing the mantle”.)  Elijah’s action was an ancient, deeply spiritual way of saying, “Follow me and become as I am.”

When Elisha realizes what is happening – when he realizes just what Elijah is inviting him into – he says, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you.” (1 Kings 19:20, NIV).

This is how Elijah responds:

“Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.”  I was struck by Elijah’s words. Go back, but think about what I have done to you. 

He gives Elisha permission with a caveat. 

Elijah essentially says, “Sure.  You’re free to go back and say goodbye, but when you do, if you do, think deeply about the calling I’ve set before you.  Don’t go back haphazardly.  Don’t go back uncritically.  Don’t go back unthinkingly.  If you must go back, go back counting the cost and considering the calling before you today.”

You see, Elijah knows if Elisha goes back, back to say goodbye, back for one last look, one last visit, one last talk, there’s a good chance that the fear of what he’s leaving behind might blind him from the beauty of what he’s being called into.

Go back and think about what I have done to you.

Honestly, are we any different?  How many times has God call us to follow Him only for us to go back for one more goodbye, one last look, one final sip, one more taste only for us to get sucked right back into the very thing God was calling us out of.  As I think about Elijah’s words to Elisha, I believe we would all do well to see and experience these words as being from God to ourselves.

To what has God been calling you?  What has God set upon your heart?  With what passion has the Lord burdened you?  What need does He continually set before you?  Is there a mantle he has placed upon you?  Is there a calling God has invited you into that you keep turning away from because you keep turning back to ‘say goodbye’?

If we fail to think deeply about the invitation of God before us, it’s only a matter of time before turning back actually turns us away from God’s call upon our lives.

Here is how Elisha responds to Elijah’s cautioned permission:

“So, Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them.  He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh.  He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate.  Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.” 1 Kings 19:21 (NIV)

Elisha does go ‘back,’ but his goodbye looks very different than we might expect. 

He went back and killed his oxen.  He took his plow and burned it into ashes. 

As crazy as all this sounds, this wasn’t an act of anger – it was an act of worship. 

His plow became the fuel for the fire, his oxen became the sacrifice and just like that, everything, absolutely everything Elisha had to fall back on was gone.  It wasn’t taken away; it was offered up.

When Elisha went back and thought deeply about God’s calling upon his life, he realized the oxen and his plow were potential rivals for his obedience to the Lord.  Then and there, he decided he’d rather offer them up to God as sacrifices instead of giving them the chance to entice him away from God as idols.

For Elisha, there was no plan B. 

Elisha’s radical response to Elijah makes me wonder…

Is there anything I’m holding on to ‘just in case’?  Am I keeping a plan B in my back pocket?  Is there something I need to sacrifice to God in worship before it pulls me away from the Lord as an idol?

As we prepare for Christmas and give good gifts to our friends and loved ones, perhaps there is yet one more gift we can give ourselves – the gift of thinking deeply about what God has done for us.

You are loved.  You are called.  You are forgiven.  You are a child of God.  In Jesus Christ, you are all these things. 

So go, burn the plow, sacrifice the oxen, and may you have no plan A, B, or Z, but the Lord.