December 10, 2012 A Loving Devoted Friend

A Loving Friend 2 Kings 2:1-2 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. PLEASE take 2 minutes to read 2 Kings 2…Good. God really showed up, didn’t he? Did you also notice Elisha’s loving friendship with Elijah? In these verses above and twice more in 2 Kings 2, Elisha testifies, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” Elisha is adamant to stay with his mentor and friend. See, too, how Elisha refuses to discuss Elijah’s impending ascension and how he tears his clothes – the Hebrew sign of grief – as Elijah disappears into the sky. Elisha is truly a devoted, loving friend who mourns his mentor’s death. What I’d like you to learn from this is that it is okay to grieve the loss of a friend or loved one to death. Oftentimes we almost feel guilty mourning a loved one’s death. We feel we should be rejoicing as our loved one has entered Heaven. But think of this: Elisha saw God swoop his friend off the earth and into Heaven! He knew with the greatest certainty Elijah was alive with the Lord God. And yet, he mourned. Why? A void was in his life. He felt cheated out of a great relationship. He felt God had betrayed him. Elisha felt the same way you and I do when a loved one dies long before we’re ready to let him go. But amid his mourning, God shows up to empower Elisha with the same power that was in Elijah. The work goes on and so does Elisha. Elijah appropriately mourns. Then he willingly moves forward. It’s True! Mourning is good. Moving on is necessary.