9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise not.”
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.
13 He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
I love this point where Elijah was taken up into heaven right in front of Elisha, makes you wonder the thoughts running through Elisha's mind as he witnessed this. Anyway moving on, this little tidbit from scripture is a wonderful illustration of what i am calling "no success without a successor". Elijah had been pouring his life into Elisha for sometime now, so that when He left someone would be ready and willing to take over his responsabilities. That someone, of course was Elisha. When that time had come (vs. 13) you see where Elisha picked up immediately where Elijah left off and carried on the work. This is not the only example either, Joshua 1 shows us that when Moses had died, Joshua was well equipped and trained to be able to take over. If you look at the New Testament, Jesus's main ministry was pouring His life into the Disciples so that when He left, they could carry on the work (Acts 1:9-11).
Here is the point: We have seen some growth in our group in the last several weeks, and we have several that are moving on or moving up, and as new are coming in or you are moving on or up, are you pouring your life into someone else? You have much to offer. Who is going to take your role when your gone? I have mentioned many times to my high schoolers and college students that the middle schoolers really need student mentors. Whether you want to be one or not, they look up to you, so grab hold of the opportunity and see how God blesses you for doing so and also leave a lasting impression in their lives.
Prepare someone to be your successor :)
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