What do you need to leave behind in 2024?

1 kings 19:19-21

1 Kings 19:19–21 ESV

So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.

Introduction

I want to ask you a question this morning that I believe god has been Stirring im my heart..

and here is is.

What do you need to leave behind as we leave 2024 and enter into the new season of 2025?

Year end

This is the last sunday of 2024

this tuesday night we will look back on this last 12 months and relfect..

and walk into the new year

and with it a new season..

2024 is gone.. anything that happened this year with it..

and 2025 an oppurtunity for a new start..

and oppurtunity for us to make lasting changes in our lives..

new years resolutions

we see this relfected every year at this time..

as people decide that the first of the year they need to change this or that..

a 2024 statista poll showed that for 2025 the top three most popular new years resolutions were as you could expect..

to save more money

loss more weight

and get healthier..

that same poll found that 80 percent of those who make resolutions will give up by mid february

mean.. very little change willl actually take place..

different

but the change im talking about today is not a resolution..

its a permanant shift into this new season of 2025..

where things change for good..

leaving begind the things that hold us back

and tie us down..

and walking into 2025 free..

Hard year

For many, 2024 started out with lots hope.

it looked like we were finally free from the calamity of the pandemic..

and life was begining to get normal again..

and then craziness ensued..

I cant tell you how many people i have talked to, or walked with, that have had a difficult 2024..

storms, health issues, unforseen mountains.. and so much more..

many of us have faced some hard issues in 2024

and much of that we have walked through and overcome..

but the fall out of those issues has left many tired, broke, hurting, and weary..

Leaving it today..

so im not asking you what your new years resolution is today..

im asking you what do you need God to help you leave in this season

to leave in 2024..

never to be seen again..

Story

when we get to 1 kings 19 we are already smack dab in the middle of a season change..

elijah

the prophet elijah..

has conquered the prophets of baal in miraculous fashion..

God has moved mightily..

but the fight has taken an emotional toll on elijah..

and god has led him to the mountain..

and spoken to him fresh direction..

but this direction is toward his replacment and eventual assention to heaven himself..

now here in verse 19 of chapter 19 we find elijah

and he has come to find this replacement.. Elisha..

Elishas Calling

and the bible tells us that elijah find him and he is plowing behind 12 yoke of oxen..

meaning 12 different sets of oxen..each with its own yoke and he is the last one..

wealthy

this tells us elisha has a pretty good thing going..

his family or clan evidently had means..

because they had land and multiple plows for the land..

Cloak

And elijah comes by.. and without saying a word to elisha..

throws his cloak on him..

and keeps walking..

what was going on?

Mantle

you see elijahs cloak, or mantle was a symbol of his prophetic authority..

and what elijah was doing was phycially placing the call on elishas to come and follow..

Season Change

this was a season change for elisha

no longer a plowman..

no longer a farmer..

he was inviting him to move into the new season and purpose of Gods call for his life..

Burning the yoke..

elisha didnt need elijah to tell him what this meant..

he knew..

maybe god had prepared him.. we dont know..

may when he felt the mantel the spirit spoke to him.. we dont know..

what we know is he knew exzactly what it meant..

so he runs after elijah and tells him.. give me a minute to tell my family goodbye..

and he goes back and does something interesting..

the bible says he sacrifices the oxen..

and he takes the yoke and uses them to make a fire to make the sacrifice..

and then shares it with the poeple..

I want us to take a deeper look for a few moments into this passage..

because I believe this morning God wants to do some work in our lives.

to prepare us for this next season..

Reltaing to us

This story is about a Season change

I want you first to note that the context of this story is about shifting season..

Elijah is passing the mantal to elisha..

and elisha is picking up the mantal from elijah..

each experiencing a season change of signifigant proportions..

us

Its important to understnad we all have seasons in our lives..

remember what solomon said in ecclesiastes 3:1?

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

in fact We all have many different seasons in our lives..

Common

some of those seasons re common to everyone.

childhood and adult hood

spring, summer, winter, fall…

year to year.. 2024 to 2025..

some season we go through together..

Specific

But some are more specific..

where you are the only one who expereinces that season…

BUT WE ALL HAVES SEASON..

And those season have a begining and an end.. a

Different

and some times are very different..

elisha is going from being a plowman to a prophet..

wow what a change..

But what we need to see is we all have differnet season..

Season End..

and its important to know that those season have a begining and an end..

and there are times that one season will end..

and the things you carry in that season..

need to stay in that season..

or they will greatly effect you in the next..

Heavy coat..

We live in snow country..

we know its going to be cold..

and in the winter.. you need that heavy coat..

but if you dont put away that coat in july its going to effect you greatly

your gonna sweat to death and youll never get anything done..

The coat shouldnt go with you to the summer..

There are things that we have carried through 2024.. that you need to leave in 2024..

Because if you bring them into 2025 they are going to prevent you from living as god has called you too..

Both elishas and elijah had things they could not take to the next season..

Elijah will assend to heaven in a fire in a charriot of fire..

and he will leave behind his mantle..

he couldnt take it with him..

but more signifigantly for this moment..

elisha has a choice to make..

he can hold onto the present

or he can let go and walk into the next season unhindered..

and elisha chooses to rid himself of some things..

1. Kiss home goodbye..

the first thing he did was kiss him mother and father goodbuy..

theologians explain this kiss, not as a writing off of the parents..

but as a comitments to following god..

Elisha decided that following gods call for his life was more important than living in his home.. with his wealth.. and his security.. and his parents anymore..

Us

maybe your here today.. and god has called you to do something..

but your too comfortable..

and today you need to say goodbuy to the comfortable life and step out in faith that god will do what he has said he would do when he called you..

2. burned the yoke...

the second thing we know elisha did.. burned the yoke and make a fire...

The yoke in scritpure is many times symbolic of bondage..

the yoke tied two animals together and forced them to walk together..

and by buring the yoke..

elishas was saying..

Im no longer bound to this life..

God has called me into a new season..

us

I believe there are some people here today who have some yokes you need to burn..

some things your tied too..

things like hurt.. anger.. unforgivness..

Things that you may have brought into 2024..

or things you may have picked up in 2024..

but they are things you need to let go of.. and leave here..

difficult

You might say pastor..

thats harder than you think..

i know that..

there are things i need to leave in 2024..

but its not impossible..

YOU.. might not be able to break the yoke or burn it..

but God can..

Isaiah 10:27 NKJV

It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.

Isaiah 58:6 ESV

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Jesus said in

matthew 11:28-30

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

JEsus is the one who can and will take the yoke from you..

He removes the burnden.

He heals the broken hearted..

he binds up their wounds..

He sets free the captive..

and gives sight to the blind..

you dont have to carry that into 2025..

God can take it from you today and set you free..

HE WANTS TO RELEASE YOU FROM YOUR YOKE OF BONDAGE!

And he wants you to stay free..

3. Sacrifices the oxen

The oxen were elishas livelyhood..

it was everything he knew..

and by slaughtering them he was saying.. going back is not an option..

He took the oxen.. and the yokes.. and he sacrificed them and burned them..

and He said im not going back!

us

You see some of us have burned the yoke..

but let the oxen live..

and so we come to the altar.. and lay down our bondage.. and then when we leave we pick it back up..

but ive come to tell you god isnts looking to just lead you to an emotional moment today..

he wants to truely set you free..

John 8:36 ESV

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

He wants to you be free!

So you can live 2025 as he wills and calls you too!!

Not being help back by the yoke of bondage any longer!

its time to walk into a new season free!

What if

lets play the what if game..

what if elisha didnt burn the yoke and sacrifice the oxen..

if not.. elisha would have left open the oppurtunity to return..

there could have been the tempation to return when he got discouraged..

after all he was the prophet..

and prophets were hated..

it would have been easy to go back to the yoke..

but he didnt..

he decided im leaving this season here..

and im never going back..

choice

I want you to notice it was elishas choice..

Elisha had to choose to kill the oxen and burn the yoke..

he had to decide these things wont god into my next season..

what do you need to leave behind?

my question to you today is what do you need to leave in 2024?