The prophet Elijah had Elisha as his servant for around six years. From the very beginning, Elisha proved his loyalty to his God-ordained job by being extra sensitive to the requests and desires of Elijah, which were many times unspoken.
The very first encounter was when Elijah passed Elisha out in the field and simply threw his mantle on him and made no further comment. But Elisha knew, nonetheless, how to respond. He appealed to say a good-bye to his father, sacrificed the oxen with which he was plowing (using the plow as firewood) and followed Elijah to serve him.
In Elisha’s last encounter with Elijah, before the latter was taken up into heaven, similar events took place. Three times the great prophet Elijah told Elisha to stay in a certain place while he would go on. And three times Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” On the surface, these comments would not be taken as loyalty but as insubordination. But Elisha’s loyalty to the unspoken desires of Elijah earned him a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. For if Elisha had not been sensitive to the unspoken wishes of Elijah and had not seen Elijah ascend in the chariot he would not have been rewarded with the double blessing which Elijah promised just before his ascension.
Elisha’s loyalty to his earthly master encourages us to be sensitive to the desires of those we serve. Though certain desires of our husbands, wives, children, boss, or pastor are often times never spoken this does not mean they do not exist or that we cannot be sensitive to discern those wishes and initiate projects to accomplish those desires. In doing so we thereby express our genuine loyalty.
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