Gluttons

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. 2 Kings 2:9....."He rewards sincere spiritual gluttony - those who pursue a double portion not for their own glory but because it is right and good to do so." Chris Tiegreen

To be a glutton is to be in a dangerous state both physically and spiritually. The Bible clearly sees it as a sin of total self-indulgence. The food glutton becomes focused on one thing, the consumption of food for their own enjoyment. Whatever the psychological, physical, and emotional elements that may go into this condition may be, an obsession with having more is at root. Yet the writer of the above quote, Chris Tiegreen, is promoting the practice of spiritual gluttony. How can this be?

The verse from 2 Kings is from a conversation between the prophet Elijah and his assistant and successor, Elisha. Elijah was about to be taken up by the Spirit of God. He had ministered long and hard for God. He had been used mightily and God had worked many miracles through him. He had also suffered greatly for the Lord. Elisha had witnessed all of it, the glory of God displayed through Elijah, and the terrible cost to Elijah in it. Elisha had been a faithful student, and Elijah wished to reward him, asking what he might give him. Elisha asked for a double portion of the very spirit that Elijah had ministered in. On the surface this would seem to be a very improper and self-gratifying thing to ask, but we have to keep in mind that Elisha had witnessed everything that had happened in Elijah's life, the triumphs and the sufferings. Knowing the heavy price Elijah had paid in ministry, he asked for twice the portion of the Spirit he had ministered in. He had to have known he was also asking for twice as much suffering. Even so, he desperately wished to walk and minister in the fullness of His Spirit and thought it worth whatever the cost would be to live and move in such fullness. That's how deep his hunger for Him was. How deep is ours? Do we so desperately want His Life, His Spirit, His Presence, that we willingly, joyfully take not only the gain of it all, but the cost as well?

We all admire the "spiritual giants" that we have witnessed throughout His church and Kingdom. Many of us aspire to have what they have, and minister as they do. Do we have any understanding of how such men and women came to be those people that we so admire and want to emulate? Do we understand that such people are made by God through a process, a journey. A process and journey that will always include fire, trials, pain, hardship, and more than a little suffering. They became mighty in the Lord because in the Lord they faced and overcame adversities that the enemy meant to destroy them with. They knew how weak they were in themselves, but they also knew how strong they could be in Him. Elijah was such a man. Elisha wanted to be such a man as well. Not for his own glory, but for God's. It is those who most desperately wish to bring Him all the glory who are given the opportunity to do so. Paul said that he could do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthened him. He also said that it was no longer he who lived, "but Christ who lives in me." Paul lived for His glory. Do we? If you have been entrusted with a ministry for Him, for whose glory do you really seek? If it is for His glory, have you surrendered to the journey, the cost that must be paid in order to walk and minister in such a spirit? Tiegreen says "God's favor comes to those who weigh the costs and willingly accept them."

Spiritual gluttons. Such have His favor in the Kingdom. Such live and breathe this prayer shared by Tiegreen, "Please, Lord, more. Always give me more of You." May this prayer drive our hunger. May it bring us into the feast that is His life.

Blessings,

Pastor O