Are you all in for God?

1 Kings 19:19-21 – Are you all in for God?

[Read Scripture]

How many of you ever cropped tobacco by hand? How glad were you when you didn’t have to do that anymore?

It can be hard to change in life, get use to it. But when something better comes along we are ready to change.

God has come to your life, wanting to give you change, are you all in for it? Are you willing to be who God wants you to be?

The Calling that Elisha Received (19)

It was a Guided Call

1. God sent Elijah to find Elisha

2. God will send people we may not be expecting to touch our lives

3. That might be you, God is calling you to go to somebody and share the love of Jesus to them

It was a Godly Call

1. God is the one who does the calling

2. God looks for people who are working and not sitting, (don’t think that God is going to call you to something important if you can’t be faithful to the simple jobs.)

3. We have to be ready to respond when God calls

It was a Gentle Call

1. The mantle was gently placed on Elisha

2. God’s calling may be coming alongside someone

3. It was felt by Elisha, he knew he was being called for God

The Closure that Elisha Requested (20)

- Elisha had a life before he was used by God, but when God called it was time to close the doors on that life.

- It is time for us to find some closure

Close the door on your past

Close the door on people who try to hold you back

The story is told of a young man by the name of Monty, who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer, who would go from stable to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training horses. As a result the boy's high school career was continually interrupted. When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about when he wanted to be and do when he grew up.

That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing the goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000 square foot house that would sit on the 200-acre dream ranch.

He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, ''See me after class.''

The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, ''Why did I receive an F?''

The teacher said, ''This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you will have to pay large stud fees. There is no way that you could ever do that.''

Then she handed the paper back to him. ''If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.''

Monty went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father told him, ''Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.''

After sitting and thinking for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He stated, ''You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream.''

The boy with a dream became a man and his dream became reality. A few years ago, Monty told the story in the living room of his 4,000 square foot house in the middle of the 200 acre horse ranch. The paper that he wrote had been framed and hung over the mantle of the fireplace.

- Sometimes you have to close doors to walk through others

The Cattle that Elisha Relinquished (21)

He Boiled the Cows

1. Sometimes we have to give up great riches to be who God wants us to be.

2. We can take what we have right now and use it to be a blessing to others.

3. Are we willing to part with what we have to be all in for God?

He Burned the Plow

1. Some would think that what took place here is a contradiction to what Jesus said in Luke 9:62

“And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”

2. Elisha didn’t go back to the plow and the old life, he went to burn the plow to show he was all in.

3. What is your plow in life? What is it that holds you back from being who God called you to be?

4. You know Elisha could have kept his life the same, he could have stayed in that field, that would have been the easy way. But listen the easy way is not the best way.

5. The easy way for you is to stay in your pew, wait for the service to be over, and go on living your life, the hard way is stepping out and coming to the Lord and being who he wants you to be.

6. Billy Sunday, who was a baseball player for Chicago, standing by a saloon heard the gospel wagon, overcome with conviction, Boys I’ve come to the end of the line. I’m through with the old life and I’m heading in a new direction. He gave his heart to Jesus, he burned his plow and became an evangelist preaching to millions.

7. Maybe it is time to burn that plow here at the altar of the Lord.