Burn the Cart

     This morning as I read today's Our Daily Bread entry, http://odb.org/, I was struck by a scene in the Bible that I hadn't remembered reading in I Kings starting at 19:19:
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 goodbye,” 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 servant.

     The author of the accompanying entry added this side note: "Elisha then slaughtered a yoke of oxen and cooked them over a fire of wood from his plow--showing hospitality to his new master and symbolically leaving his past life." It reminded me of my blog yesterday when I asked, "so now what?" to the question of what do I do when I can't let go of a past mistake. I will do what Elisha did, show hospitality to God for providing the opportunity and then "burn the cart" of the past as the fire under my sacrifice of praise to God. 

     Like Elijah, God is waiting to put the mantel of new work and possibilities on my shoulders, but He can't do it if I keep plowing up the old problems and refusing to bury them. Thank you Lord for this visual and I'm ready to "burn the cart" and may the smoke of my thanksgiving sacrifice be a sweet smell unto heaven. Amen.

Old wagon in Tombstone, AZ. I can't imagine traveling across the US on one of those rickety carts.

Matthew 16: ²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.