August 1

and Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to Jericho.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me on to the Jordan.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind. — 2 Kgs 2:2,4,6,11 BSB

God leads us step by step, with each step bringing a new revelation. He led Elijah from one place to another—Gilgal to Bethel, Bethel to Jericho, Jericho to the Jordan, and then across the river and up the hills—until finally the chariot came and lifted him away to heaven. In the same way, God leads each of His children through life. We don’t know what each day will bring, but God knows. He calls us forward to today’s duties and experiences, then on to tomorrow’s, and so on until the final step, which will lead us into glory.

Elijah’s prompt obedience shows us our part in this process. He moved swiftly from one task to the next, determined to finish his work before the end came. His visits to the schools of the prophets in Bethel and Jericho were to give his final counsels to the young students he had trained, on whom the future of religious work would depend.

As we near the end of life, our earnestness should only grow. A godly woman was once told that she had only six weeks to live. “Then I must get up and finish my work!” she said. She left her bed and hurried from place to place, working intensely until the very end.