The Cost of Serving God
The Cost of Serving God
“So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and served him.”
I Kings 19:21
To be a servant of the Lord, the price is too costly. For Elisha, it costs him his business or livelihood and his family. Prior to his calling, Elisha was living a comfortable life, he was managing an oxen farm and belonging to a loving family.
When Elijah passed by him and heard the calling of God through Elijah, Elisha readily made a great adjustment in his life in order to fulfill God’s will. To be a prophet of God is not an easy calling. As a prophet of God, Elisha was now bound to live “by Faith”. He was now bound to entrust his day to day needs to Gods’s direct provision. And as a prophet, one must have great courage to confront the wickedness of the Israelites. His life will be in constant danger. Elisha, the man of God indeed paid a very great price to fulfill his calling.
The great missionary to inland China and the one responsible for bringing the Gospel of salvation to China, Hudson Taylor paid a very great price in fulfilling the Lord’s calling in his life. To fulfill the Lord’s calling to him to mainland China, he need to leave behind his loving parents, brothers and sisters, friends, church, even his mother land America. He really did make a great adjustment in his life to fulfill God’s will.
We would never be qualified as a servant of God, unless we paid a costly price. It could be our career, our family, our lovelife or any other things we count so precious in our lives that serves as a hindrance in fulfilling the will of God in our lives. No matter how costly serving God is, it is still the best way of living for it is a life accompanied by his glorious presence.
