Obedience Plus Passion Equals…Strike the Ground.
2 Kings 13:14-19AMP
We have a tendency to want Joy without sacrifice. We won't character without suffering. We won't success without failure. We won't gain without pain. We want a testimony without a test. We want it all, without going all in.
However it does not work that way, and you know it.
2 Kings 13:14-16AMP When Elisha was in his last illness, King Jehoash of Israel visited him and wept over him. “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” he cried. 15 Elisha told him, “Get a bow and some arrows.” And the king did as he was told. 16 Elisha told him, “Put your hand on the bow,” and Elisha laid his own hands on the king’s hands.
Can you imagine, The prophet Elisha laying his hands on the King of Israels hand.
I wonder what that would be like? “I believe one greater than a prophet has laid His hands on you.”
2 Kings 13:17AMP Then he commanded, “Open that eastern window,” and he opened it. Then he said, “Shoot!” So he shot an arrow. Elisha proclaimed, “This is the Lord’s arrow, an arrow of victory over Aram, for you will completely conquer the Arameans at Aphek.”
When the prophet Elisha put his hand on the king’s hand, he was illustrating the process of spiritual instruction, guidance, and coaching.
He said, “I don’t’ want you just to shoot the arrow—anyone can do that. Put your hands on the bow . . . now let me put my hand over yours.”
This is a beautiful picture of how God places His hands over weak human hands to accomplish supernatural things, 2 Corinthians 12.
God’s looking for weak human hands…He wants the glory. He wants to be lifted up!
Psalm 144:1AMP Blessed be the Lord, my Rock and my great strength, Who trains my hands for war And my fingers for battle;
In Judaism, there is four dimensions of discipleship: When someone follows a rabbi, the first responsibility is memorizing his words. The second responsibilities of that is the unique interpretation of Scripture, called a yoke. The third responsibility is imitating his way of life. The fourth responsibility is discipling others the same way you were discipled.
Discipleship is—growing fruit on someone else's tree.
“Ask the Lord to place His hands upon your hands. Ask Him for spiritual direction. Ask for His leadership. If He leads, you’ll possess His approval.” P.H
2 Kings 13:18-19AMP Then he said, “Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. 19 But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times.”
Q&A—What’s your attitude while striking the ground? How do you handle the tuff stuff?
A young father wrote about doing a ritual with each of his sons. With one of his sons, he took him on a 23.2 mile rim to rim hike inside the Grand Canyon, they hiked four days. It entailed a 1 mile elevation in 110° weather. This father speaks about coming out of the Grand Canyon and seeing all the tourist looking down, some with Popsicles in their mouths, he thought to himself, “they don't have a clue.”
He called these folks—Rim Huggers, because all they did was look over the rim and dream. The father states, “For a split second I detested these sight seers, Rim Huggers.’ ‘But then I felt sorry and prayed for them.”
Elisha the prophet of God, was dying. Elisha gave King Jehoash of Israel instructions. These instructions were to be carried out. As they were carried out, so would restoration and victory.
Obedience meant shooting an arrow from the Eastern window, this he did. However, one more word—strike the ground!
King Jehoash struck the ground three times, this angered the prophet of God. 1, 2, 3.
The prophet of God was looking for the Kings passion in overtaking the wicked kings. PH
Upon pondering on this, Elisha helped the King with the bow and arrow; however, to strike the ground, this could only be carried out by the King himself. PH
Illustration—A limp handshake. A hearty— handshake.
1, 2, 3—It truly was a test of King Jehoash’s passion for victory over every enemy. His lack of luster/passion was felt and seen by this dying prophet of God.
Elisha was looking for passion, will-power, and attitude, the King of Israel lacked.
There’s ‘5 or 6 things’ I want you to discover and take home with you tonight—I’ll call them…strikes.
1. The first strike, Be obedient. Obedience isn’t based on emotion, You obey because you desire God’s best.
Obedience becomes an act of faith. All though no one knows, You have daily devotions, you spend time with God…Daily, you desire to serve.
Samuel, the prophet tells King Saul: 1 Samuel 15:22-23NLT But Samuel replied,“What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
Doing the right thing just because…this attracts God’s anointing! P.H
2. The second strike, Passion can’t be manufactured; Passion isn’t taught, passion is caught.
Paul pleaded with young pastor Timothy in— 2 Timothy 1:6NIV For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Again, Elisha had given Jehoash, the king of Israel, a plan, for not only defeating his enemy but eliminating him permanently as a future threat.
However, the plan depended on to important things. First, being fully obedient. Second, being passionate.
Maybe King Jehoash was tired, or distracted, maybe he didn't listen carefully to the prophets instructions, maybe he thought token— obedience would be as effective as whole-hearted obedience.
The Bible doesn't tell us. But this much we do know, he forfeited God’s best because he wasn't passionate enough.
1 Timothy 4:13-16NIV Paul warns Timothy, 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Did you hear that? Paul plea to Timothy, “Follow your life and doctrine closely!”
Don't miss the lesson here, it's not enough to say I have obeyed the Lord. You must obey Him wholeheartedly; otherwise, you can end up compromising your future and failing to experience the fullness of what God has in mind for you.
Again, 2 Timothy 1:6…fan into flames the gift of God…
Passion is like fire, unless you feed it and stoke it, it will die.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how wholehearted are you about serving the Lord?
Deuteronomy 6:5NKJV You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Psalms 119:2NKJV Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!
Proverbs 3:5NKJV Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
Jeremiah 29:13NKJV And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Colossians 1:29NIV To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
3. The third strike to remember is, the enemy of passion is indifference.
You go through the motions, but your focus is broken by other things. Cares of the world, Passion for idols, coveting others possessions.
How wholehearted are you?
The Bible proclaims, Amaziah reigned in Judah for 29 years—2 Chronicles 25:2NIV He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly.
Think about it, at what point does passion leave a marriage? It happens when you neglect and take each other for granted.
Jeremiah warns in, Jeremiah 48:10NIV “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!
4. The fourth strike to the ground, is the strike of faith.
OT saints were saved just like NT saints. They were saved through grace by faith.
As a NT saint, we are to strike the ground by— faith. We speak faith, we live faith.
When you strike the ground, Jesus goes before you. Your count down goes like this— 1. Jesus. 2. Jesus. 3. Jesus……
5. When you strike the ground, God moves.
Paul wrote in, Romans 8:31 “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
If God is on my side, I should strike the ground with confidence.
Things to remember, God’s passionate about you. He loves you. God’s obedience through His Son—Jesus, shows us how commented He is to you.
“Obedience and passion aren’t hard lessons to learn if you’re in love with Jesus.” P.H
Jesus states in, Revelation 2:4-5NIV Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp-stand from its place.
Again, Jesus states in, Revelation 3:15-16NIV I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Repent, and become passionate!
Benediction—Obedience Plus Passion Always Equals—favor and success—Eternity.
