God was about to take Elijah to heaven in a whirlwind. So with Elisha, they were traveling from Gilgal to Jordan. Right from the start at Gilgal, Elijah had tried to dissuade Elisha from following him to test his resolve. He also did the same at Bethel. Judging from the latter’s resolve, we know he was not one who would abort his assignment halfway. He was bent on going with his mentor and God all the way.
Second
Kings 2:4 tells us that at Bethel, Elijah told him to remain there saying that
the Lord was sending him to Jericho. Hear the response of Elisha, “As the Lord lives,
and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they journeyed together to
Jericho. And when they arrived at Jericho, some sons of the prophets, like
those at Bethel approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will
take away your master from over you today?” His response to them remained
the same. “Yes, I know; be still.”
What do we remember about Jericho? It
was the first place that the Israelites conquered when they entered the
promised land. It was a well-structured, walled
city. Apparently, it was well protected by two layers of massive stone walls.
The outer wall was about 6 feet thick and 20 feet high and the inner wall was
about 12 feet thick and 30 feet high. Built between the two walls was a guarded
walkway. So, the city, in a sense, was impenetrable. The walls posed two
barriers - a physical as well as a psychological barrier - that the children of
Israel needed to overcome if they ever hope to penetrate deeper into Canaan.
Unless this formidable city was conquered, there was no way they could move
deeper into Canaan. It stood between Israel and their promised land.
These two walls are likened to the
deeply entrenched habits of our lives that can prevent us from a deeper walk
with God. To deal with one bad habit is already difficult enough, what more the
many we often will have to deal with. Dealing with a habit is tough. When we
take the letter “h” from the word “habit” there is still “a bit.” When we take
away the letter “a” from “a bit”, there is still the “bit.” When you take away
the letter “b” from “bit” there is still the “it”. It is only until we remove
the “I” from the “it” that we come to the “t”, or the cross of it. It is only
through the cross that we overcome a habit. Each one of us probably needs to
deal with more than one habit that will hinder our walk with God. They are the
walls that can prevent us from experiencing a victorious walk.
What could be some of the habits in
our life that are preventing us from experiencing inner peace with God? It
could be our unwillingness to let go of hurts we have allowed to turn into a
bitter root. It could even be an issue of unforgiveness that has become a deep
resentment. Our walls could be some attitudes that we have adopted, and they
are preventing us from having a joyful walk with God. It could even be some
people or things we treasure more than God. They could be one’s wife,
sweetheart, a special friend, career, hobby, etc that have become bigger than
God in our eye. All these could have become strongholds in our lives, and we
can move no further with God. We need to honestly deal with them. These are
just a few of the walls of negativism that have become strongholds that needed
to be overcome. They are like the two walls of Jericho that Joshua and the
Israelites brought down.
Absolute surrender and submission to
God are two critical steps we need to experience an overcoming life. We need to
have an unhindered trust in God. What God wants to do in our lives requires
that we develop absolute trust in Him. The victory we will experience is not
found so much in our plan but in absolute trust. What God is asking from us is
unconditional surrender. Can we trust God absolutely and yield to Him completely?
No comments:
Post a Comment