“Kill the Oxen, Burn the plow…”
From my Journal notes 8.7.2012 B. Keith Chadwell
Saul, David and Jonathan are lessons in type for “the Church“. There is much more that could be said of that. However, it is those like “Jonathan” within the “the Church“, today, that I would speak to. These, like Jonathan, in spite of Saul’s orders not to eat, have tasted the “honey” and have had their “eyes enlightened”.
1Sa 14:27 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.
Yet, like Jonathan, there are those Christians who are embedded within “the church” and in spite of God removing the anointing from some of the “establishment” they continue on, business as usual. These, Like Jonathan, have had their eyes enlightened but are torn between their close relationships with the status quo and following their “David.
I am not talking of a Christian losing out on their eternal destiny, in Christ. I am talking about following the leading of the Spirit and forsaking everything we think we know, in order to come up to the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus, in this life. Moses “saw” the Promised Land from atop the mountain but God did not allow him to “enter” into the land because of disobedience. Yet, later, in Luke 9: we see Moses, in the Spirit, with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, in conference with Jesus and Elijah, his earthy calling being different than His eternal destiny.
Luke 9:28-31 (CEV) About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up on a mountain to pray. While he was praying, his face changed, and his clothes became shining white. Suddenly Moses and Elijah were there speaking with him. They appeared in heavenly glory and talked about all that Jesus’ death in Jerusalem would mean.
All I’m saying is; “Let loose of the plow handles, kill the oxen, burn the plow……:”
1Kings (CVE) 19:19-21 Elijah left and found Elisha plowing a field with a pair of oxen. There were eleven other men in front of him, and each one was also plowing with a pair of oxen. Elijah went over and put his own coat on Elisha.
Elisha stopped plowing and ran after him. “Let me kiss my parents good-by, then I’ll go with you,” he said. “You can go,” Elijah said. “But remember what I’ve done for you.”
Elisha left and took his oxen with him. He killed them and boiled them over a fire he had made with the wood from his plow. He gave the meat to the people who were with him, and they ate it. Then he left with Elijah and became his assistant.
(Additional reading; “Come up higher ”) (Reference, also: Mark 10:34-42)
Dear Sir/Madam, I wish I could correspond with you to ask you about the Saving Life of Christ by Major Ian Thomas. I turned your .pdf into an .epub and am reading it. I think it is great! However, when I compare it to the copy found on Google Books, it seems like there are differences. Is it possible you did not include every chapter of the original book in your pdf?
I don’t know…I found it online @ Sermon Index (Link on side), and it was so good I wanted to share it with others. If there are other versions, I wouldn’t know. You can also find audio messages and listen to Major Thomas on Sermon Index, which I would encourage. There is always more, but thanks for pointing that out. I will try and check what other copies have. Cathy
As Keith brings out in this posting, we are so limited when we cling to the familiar, and refuse to lay what God used to get us to this point, on the altar of sacrifice. And what we too often fail to comprehend, is that we will never proceed any further in our spiritual growth, until we do. ‘Nothing of the old, can go into the new,’ yet we tenaciously hold onto what we know, and are afraid to venture forth by faith in the new way that the Spirit is leading us to enter. Sometimes you are all alone, nobody else is hearing what you are hearing, or seeing what you see, and it means that you have to choose, will you believe and obey, or hang back and wait for reinforcements? If we refuse, the invitation may not come again. Knowing God is not a group sport… it has to be one-on-one, individually, BEFORE we can be joined to other members, who have been likewise prepared. Something to seriously consider before the Lord.