And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbor in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray you. And the man refused to smite him. Then said he unto him, Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion shall slay you. And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him, 1Kgs 20:35-36.
If you know your Bible, you know that is only the beginning of the story, but it was certainly the end of it for that second young prophet. Here is the hard lesson we all must learn: serving God is NOT for wimps. Sometimes God asks for difficult things. Sometimes they seem impossible. But God expects the impossible from us—the things you cannot do alone, He will help you with.
First century Christians understood this. Many of them converted knowing they might be thrown into prison or even the arena within a week. And us? We want promises of health and wealth. We demand a life where no one contracts a serious illness, where our homes never blow away in hurricanes or tornadoes, where jobs are never lost, accidents never happen, and babies never die. We want the reward now—the perfect life in the perfect place. Then we will consider serving God.
It doesn’t work that way and it never has. This prophet could not believe that God would ask him to strike his fellow prophet. “Why God would never…” you can hear him thinking just as so many say today. He found out there was something a whole lot worse when he didn’t have the gumption to do as he was told.
I have a feeling that a whole lot of people are going to meet the same lion he did.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God,” Luke 9:57-62.
Dene Ward
If you know your Bible, you know that is only the beginning of the story, but it was certainly the end of it for that second young prophet. Here is the hard lesson we all must learn: serving God is NOT for wimps. Sometimes God asks for difficult things. Sometimes they seem impossible. But God expects the impossible from us—the things you cannot do alone, He will help you with.
First century Christians understood this. Many of them converted knowing they might be thrown into prison or even the arena within a week. And us? We want promises of health and wealth. We demand a life where no one contracts a serious illness, where our homes never blow away in hurricanes or tornadoes, where jobs are never lost, accidents never happen, and babies never die. We want the reward now—the perfect life in the perfect place. Then we will consider serving God.
It doesn’t work that way and it never has. This prophet could not believe that God would ask him to strike his fellow prophet. “Why God would never…” you can hear him thinking just as so many say today. He found out there was something a whole lot worse when he didn’t have the gumption to do as he was told.
I have a feeling that a whole lot of people are going to meet the same lion he did.
As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God,” Luke 9:57-62.
Dene Ward
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