What are the things in your life you need to “kill”, “burn”, or leave behind in order to follow Jesus? What are you holding onto or what’s holding on to you?įollowing Jesus means you’re taking on his character and taking up his cause! Call it “discipleship” or “development” or “spiritual growth/maturity” or “doing the will of God” or simply “living a life that looks a lot like Christ” here’s a key principle… For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?” You must c alculate what it means to follow Jesus!! There is no such thing as casual Christianity! There is a cost to follow: Luke 14:28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. He has no intentions of “going back” to where he once was! James and John “left some things behind”- Elisha “let it all go” up in smoke!. And the young “prophet-to-be” has to go all in! Notice: This is an OT story about an old prophet who has identified his replacement and is about to begin a process of mentoring him. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. 20 Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.” 21 So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Not a spontaneous decision… They’re ready to take the next step… THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!! They were in the family fishing business: “Zebedee and Sons!” This was not a causal decision!ġ Kings 19:19-21 19 So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. Note: They “left behind” the boat and their father! This is early in Jesus’ ministry and he’s inviting some guys to “follow him.” James and John are fishermen, they are in a boat, repairing nets, with their father- it’s a family business, doing what fishermen do. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind. 4:21-22 21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. I love to hunt, eat meat, and I’m almost a pyromaniac!! So, “Kill the Cow and Burn the Plow” is a great subject for me to talk about! Please find below my teaching notes to Pt. It’s been a while since I posted due to vacations.
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