1 Kings 19:19-21
"19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. 20 And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” 21 And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him."
Following the thought of the previous reading, we now see the Lord laying His mighty hand upon one of the seven thousand of whom He had spoken to Elijah, and calling him into training for his future work. This is not only an evidence of God's gracious condescension to His lonely servant, in providing him with a companion in his work so much after his own heart; it is also an indication of the unfolding pattern of the divine strategy in preparing for days ahead. We have for long felt that the ultimate test of any work of ministry is not merely that souls should be gathered into the kingdom of God, but that there should also be those in whose lives the great work of character-building should be manifested, with a view to signifi- cant and effective service in the future. A true ministry not only begets enthusiasm for its cause, but also a holy determination, in at least some, to walk in the steps of true discipleship. The tremendous potential of even one such may be seen in the story of Elisha which we read in the following chapters. In the deepest sense, God's Elijahs can never truly say, 'I, even I only, am left' for they beget likeminded men through their ministry who themselves leave their mark and thereby continue the work that has been begun. All this God's servants should remember in the loneliness of their calling.