1 Kings 19:19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat.
It was time for Elijah to find and start training his successor. According to the story God told Elijah who this would be. We aren’t told what sort of relationship Elijah and Elisha had up to this point. As usual, the Bible doesn’t tell us what we want to know but what we need to know. We do know that Elisha was not Elijah’s biological child. Elijah was not passing on the crown to his son, he was not creating a dynasty or “keeping it in the family.” God chose Elisha but it was still up to Elijah to go find him, take him under his wing, and invest himself in Elisha’s growth and development. Everyone is a leader to someone. Everyone can invest in another person’s faith development. Everyone can seek a person to pass on what God has given them. It is not as easy as it sounds. It requires a desire to seek God’s direction, the commitment to building a relationship of trust and the willingness to model with your own life what you think God wishes to instill in theirs. If you have had someone invest in you, you know how important it has been in your life. This week, in whom might God have you invest?
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