You've Gotta Want It!

"One Year Bible" Old Testament History Passage
II Kings 13:1-14:29

"Then he (Elisha) said, 'Take the arrows'; so he took them.  And he said to the king of Israel, 'Strike the ground'; so he struck three times, and stopped.  And the man of God was angry with him, and said, 'You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.'"  II Kings 13:18-19 (NKJV)

We are at war.  The spiritual battle that surrounds us is bigger than we usually realize.  Warfare can bring out the best or the worst in us.  It is in war that heroism shines.  It is also in war that cowardice is revealed.  The challenges of warfare flush out our true character.

In order to win in battle, we must make some very basic decisions.  DO WE REALLY WANT TO WIN.  If so, then we pull out all the stops, we declare war, and we do not let up until victory is ours.

This is the lesson from the passage today. Elisha commanded the king of Israel to strike the ground with arrows.  King Joash tentatively struck the ground only three times.  He hesitated.  Elisha declared to him that if he had been decisive and struck the ground repeatedly, then he would have gotten complete victory over his enemies.  Instead, he would only attain partial success. 

This is one of the besetting problems of the church today.  We attain on a half victory.  The reason for our lack of success is not that we don't have talent or resources.  It is because we lack follow-through.  DO NOT LET UP UNTIL THE VICTORY IS COMPLETE!  Declare war!  Do not hesitate!  Do not faint!  The victory belongs to those who carry the calling all the way to the finish line.