Elijah the prophet met Elisha who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. When Elijah called Elisha, he took his yoke of oxen and cooked them and gave them to the people to eat. Then he set out to follow Elijah. (1 Kings 19:19~21) From that day on, Elisha persistently followed Elijah wherever he went, asking for a double portion of Elijah’s blessing.
Elijah kept telling Elisha not to follow him on their way from Gilgal to Bethel, from Bethel to Jericho, from Jericho to Jordan. However, Elisha kept following Elijah replying, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live. I will not leave you. The company of the prophets tried to stop him from following Elijah but he didn’t listen to them.
Finally, Elisha saw Elijah going up to heaven in a whirlwind up to the last moment, and he inherited a double portion of Elijah, which he longed to have very much. (2 KINGS 2:23) The company of the prophets mocked him and Elijah told him go back but Elisha never gave up. It was because he longed so much to inherit the double portion of Elijah that he received it.
If you follow Jesus to the last moment, your problems must be solved. No matter what problems you have, no matter how you are suffering from any disease, no matter how much difficulty you are in, no matter how poor you are, no matter how impossible something is on your way, you shouldn’t be discouraged but should follow Jesus till the problems are solved.
After Jesus was taken up to heaven, the disciples got together in Mark’s upper room. When they prayed hard, the reason why the Holy Spirit came upon them was they were making efforts and hasd been longing for the Holy Spirit for ten days. When they were longing for the Holy Spirit in thirst and hunger, the Holy Spirit came upon them. I hope you have every blessing that the Lord wants to give you, yearning for the blessing like the disciples.
Pastor Seok-Jeon Yoon
Extracted from Yonsei Newspaper #621
