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All On The Altar, July 19
No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God.
Luke 9:62
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We are not all asked to serve as Elisha served, nor are we all bidden to sell
everything we have; but God asks us to give His service the first place in our
lives, to allow no day to pass without doing something to advance His work in the
earth. He does not expect from all the same kind of service. One may be called
to ministry in a foreign land; another may be asked to give of his means for the
support of gospel work. God accepts the offering of each. It is the consecration of
the life and all its interests, that is necessary. Those who make this consecration
will hear and obey the call of Heaven....
It was no great work that was at first required of Elisha; commonplace duties
still constituted his discipline. He is spoken of as pouring water on the hands of
Elijah, his master. He was willing to do anything that the Lord directed, and at
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every step he learned lessons of humility and service.... Elisha’s life after uniting
with Elijah was not without temptations. Trials he had in abundance; but in every
emergency he relied on God. He was tempted to think of the home that he had left,
but to this temptation he gave no heed. Having put his hand to the plow, he was
resolved not to turn back, and through test and trial he proved true to this trust....
As Elisha accompanied the prophet ... his faith and resolution were once more
tested. At Gilgal, and again at Bethel and Jericho, he was invited by the prophet
to turn back.... But ... he would not be diverted from his purpose.... “And ... Elijah
said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.”
Elisha asked not for worldly honor, or for a high place among the great men
of earth. That which he craved was a large measure of the Spirit that God had
bestowed so freely upon the one about to be honored with translation. He knew
that nothing but the Spirit which had rested upon Elijah, could fit him to fill the
place in Israel to which God had called him; and so he asked, “I pray thee, let a
double portion of thy Spirit be upon me.”
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