Burn The Boats
“So he (Elijah) departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yokes of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.”
And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”
So Elisha turned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and became his servant.” I Kings 19:19-21
Elijah walks by and throws his mantle onto Elisha and keeps walking. Elisha all of a sudden experienced the presence of Yahweh in a way he never had before. In a powerful way. Now Elisha has two options. He can say, “wow, that was amazing,” and continue farming the next day or he can burn it all to the ground. What does he choose? Elisha has one encounter with the presence and says to Elijah, “wait, let me kiss my mom and dad and then I will follow you.”
Yahweh will call you away from what past generations have given you. It can be hard to leave what you have always known but He calls us to our true purpose on the earth. It is your decision. Elijah, the father in this story tells him this is your decision but just know down the road it will be hard. Knowing this Elisha turns back and kills the oxen- boils the flesh using the wood of the yoke.
Why would he destroy his livelihood? He knew the significance of what He just experienced and didn’t want anything tempting him to turn back to the familiar when it got hard. Have you ever heard the phrase “burn the boats?” It is a metaphor that means to commit to a course of action without the option of turning back. In the Air Force they have the meaning like this burning a boat involves sacrifice and getting rid of something you love for something you love more. Everyone wants the presence, the blessing, the whisper, the closeness of Him but are you willing to burn the oxen?
The beautiful attribute of Yahweh is He gives us the choice to how we live this life. He wants us to choose Him in a radical way where we burn it all down to just have Him. Ask Him what you value most in this life. We all know walking hand in hand with Him is the best way, but we must make the choice every day, every moment. This is about a lifestyle of Beloved Identity, which involves encounters and perspective. Will you let Him talk to you today about burning the boat? Then will you choose Him?
