Fresh StartSample

Elijah was one of the greatest prophets who ever lived. After a moment of discouragement, thinking that he was one of the very few people on Earth who followed God, God led him to Elisha. Elisha was busy at work, plowing fields with pairs of oxen. Elisha’s parents were wealthy—this appeared evident by the pairs of oxen he was driving. Very likely, Elisha was set to inherit it. But that wasn’t the life Elisha wanted. The great prophet Elijah threw his cloak around Elisha—it was an invitation for Elisha to follow him and take on his ministry. Elisha walked away from what looked like the good life and joined him.

The Bible tells us: “He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant” (1 Kings 19:21). The good life isn’t always what we assume it’s going to be. Elisha seemingly would have been financially set. Instead, he took the path of the prophet, which was an uncertain future financially. Yet, Elisha valued what God was going to do with his life. Elisha turned his back on his “wealth” and set off on the adventure of following God. And there he found true riches. He saw God do wonders upon wonders that he would have never seen from his farm.