Elisha was a man like you and me. Elisha was hard working and a great relationship with the family. Elijah met Elisha one day, Elisha decided to follow Elijah forsaking everything. Today we are going to look at how eager Elisha was in serving God and Elijah. We will learn how we can be eager and why should we be eager to follow God.

1. Be hardworking.

1 Kings 19:19-21
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss my father and mother good-by," he said, "and then I will come with you." "Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?"
21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.

There is no substitute for hard work. The more eager you are the more harder you work. When Elijah met Elisha, Elisha was working hard in the field and he himself was driving the 12 pair of oxen. Elisha did not delay in following Elijah but before that he made sure that his family was taken care of. He went back to his family, bid good bye to them, he burnt the yoke, slaughter the oxen, gave it to the people to eat. He did everything right before Elijah's attendant. Elisha's eagerness led him to burn up all temptations to make him turn away from God.

Are you eager today? The way that you know that you are eager is by saying how hard you work for God. Our prayer, Bible study, our evangelism, fellowship are all hard work that we put in to show how eager we are. If we have not been working hard or if we have not been praying, reading the Bible, evangelizing, and having great relationship then you will be thinking about some other plans which would be not burnt up. Any other priority which stops us from working hard, we should burn it up.

2. Be loyal to the leadership.

2 Kings 2:1-18
1 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
2 Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.
3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?" "Yes, I know," Elisha replied, "but do not speak of it."
4 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went to Jericho.
5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?" "Yes, I know," he replied, "but do not speak of it."
6 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them walked on.
7 Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.
8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
10 "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours--otherwise not."
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
12 Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.
13 He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
14 Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
16 "Look," they said, "we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley." "No," Elisha replied, "do not send them."
17 But they persisted until he was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, "Send them." And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him.
18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"

When Elisha knew that Elijah would be taken away by God, he did not want to let him go. Many people discouraged him about his loyalty to Elijah by reminding him about Elijah's departure. But Elisha did not want to talk about it. When the time came for Elijah to be taken away, Elijah asked Elisha what he can do for him. Elisha was eager to be like Elijah. When Elijah was taken away Elisha was grieved and tore his own clothes apart. He did not delay in carrying out the Elijah's mission. He picked up the cloak of Elijah's struck the Jordan just like Elijah did when they crossed over to the side where Elijah was taken away. The water divided and he crossed over. Everyone saw that Elisha was like Elijah.

How is our relationship with our disciplers? Why are we loyal to them? Is it because of mere friendship or because of their spiritual life? How eager are you to be with your discipler and meet him every day? We need to keep in touch with other Christians specially our disciplers every single day. Elisha imitated the heart of Elijah. Are you eager to imitate your discipler's heart? Elisha asked Elijah for help and so he got a double portion. Do we ask our discipler's to teach us the Bible or do we wait till they help us?

3. Be Serving

2 Kings 2:19-22
19 The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive."
20 "Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him.
21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'"
22 And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.

In Jericho the water was bad, the land was unproductive. He was the successor of Elijah, the great prophet in high position. Even though he was passing by, he's still willing to help those people who were in need. II Kings 4: 1-7 Elisha was concerned about a widow who had two boys and she had much debts. Elisha was eager to serve her. Elisha could have easily ignored her but he went out of his way to be like Jesus. The widow was faithful till the very end. Elisha's eagerness to serve is seen in II Kings 4, 5 & 6

How much do you help in people's needs? Simple things like cleaning the room after devotional, washing the cups after others have used, eager to serve and not to be served, helping out in the childcare, communion and ushering. When you serve a person when he is weak spiritually he will always remember what you have done for him even if he leaves God.

4. Be Bold

2 Kings 6:8-20
8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, "I will set up my camp in such and such a place."
9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: "Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there."
10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, "Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?"
12 "None of us, my lord the king," said one of his officers, "but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom."
13 "Go, find out where he is," the king ordered, "so I can send men and capture him." The report came back: "He is in Dothan."
14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."
17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
19 Elisha told them, "This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for." And he led them to Samaria.
20 After they entered the city, Elisha said, "LORD, open the eyes of these men so they can see." Then the LORD opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.

The king of Aram was upset with Elisha, because Elisha was giving all the information of the army to the Israelites. So he sent strong force with horses and chariots to Dothan where Elisha was and surrounded it. Elisha's servants got afraid. Elisha was not and he told them, ' Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them". Elisha believed in God himself but his servants did not have the same dream that Elisha had. Elisha prayed to God so that the servants could dream. The servants saw a large army full of apostles and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Elisha also prayed to the Lord to blind the Arameans and let them astray.

Our leaders have dreams and visions. Do you also have the same dream as your leaders? If we do not know the dream of your leader for you ask it today. We need to have great dream for our disciples. The dream that God has for everyone of us is that we can all be leaders in the church inspite of our age, language, our education barriers. So let us make God's dream come true.

Conclusion

One of the ways to repent is to show eagerness. And the eagerness is shown by our hard work, being loyal to the leadership, serving and being bold. Let us show to the world that we are eager to evangelize the world within our generation by being eager.