Once more Elijah is directed to turn northwards. But how different does the scene appear! It is as if nature herself sympathised with the visions of comfort and help so lately presented to the soul of the prophet. He now passed through a country, smiling in all the luxuriance of a new spring. The recent plenteous rains had softened the longparched fields, inviting the labours of the husbandmen by cheerful prospects of plenty. Everywhere the neglected operations were resumed; herds and flocks were browsing in the meadows; busy hands were rapidly putting in the seed. Upwards he travelled along the fertile valley of the Jordan, signs of life and happiness multiplying, till he reached the well-known district of Abel-Meholah. Here the eye of the prophet rested on a busy scene. Twelve yoke of oxen were ploughing up the ground-eleven in charge of hired servants, the twelfth guided by the master's son. Whithersoever he looked, all was the property of one man, and he a true Israelite. These are the fields, and this the cattle of Shaphat; these men are his servants, and this is his son Elisha, whom the prophet had come to call to the service of the Lord.

Better preparation or greater suitableness for the work could scarcely have been found than in Elisha. The son of a godly household, his was the ancient faith of Israel. The times were sadly degenerate, but even in the capital there were uncompromising Naboths, and at court, devout, though perhaps weak Obadiahs. But in the remote country districts, in the peaceful Jordan valley, in places unfrequented by strangers, like Abel-Meholah, there must have been many a home in which the knee had never been bent to Baal. Undoubtedly Shaphat and his son were among the seven thousand faithful witnesses in Israel. The very name Elisha, while unconsciously prophetic of his mission, was also expressive of Shaphat's conviction, that Jehovah was "the

God of salvation," or (otherwise rendered) "my God is salvation." Far from the corruption, the luxury, and the idolatry of the court, Elisha had grown up in the habits of a simple piety. If further evidence of this were required, we should unhesitatingly find it in the reference to the religious feast in the family, which signalised the call of Elisha, and in the ready acquiescence of Shaphat, when his son devoted himself to such a work, and under such circumstances.

A marked characteristic of Elisha was, contentment with his position and willingness to fulfil its duties, however humble. It is almost a truism that his whole history shows him to have been distinguished by natural gifts, by strength of character, and by the possession of Divine grace. His outward circumstances were those of wealth and influence. Yet, though, in a manner, born to rule, he was willing to serve, that so he might serve his God. Contentedly he plied his humble avocation, waiting till God, if He pleased, called him to a higher and more prominent place. Men's estimate of themselves is generally in the inverse ratio of their qualifications. How few, possessed of gifts, are willing to wait the call of God; how few even without gifts, or else who imagine they have gifts, are willing to wait! It seems to be forgotten that incapacity to serve God in "a few things," is evidence of inability to serve Him in many, and that he who cannot make it possible to be faithful in little, may never be entrusted with that which is great. Besides, the idea seems, at least unconsciously, to obtain, that a certain position or certain circumstances are requisite in order to serve God, that somehow the active service of God must be incompatible with the ordinary duties of daily life, or, at any rate, with such humble avocations as following the plough. The opposite is the

case.

There is a vast difference between worship and service.

We serve God in our own houses, having worshipped Him in His house. Service is work, and work for Him where He places us, not where we place ourselves. If we cannot or do not serve God in the humble place and in the daily duties. which He has assigned to us, assuredly we never can nor will serve Him in any other place or circumstances. That religion must be spurious which leads either to neglect or to a mean estimate of every-day duties-of the duties of home and the home circle-even if it were to exchange them for the excitement of religious meetings. These are, or may be, means of refreshment, of fellowship, and of strengthening, but only to enable us to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in the humbler and more difficult walks of every-day life. But religion consists not in those means, nor in the excitement sometimes connected with them. True religion must act as leaven in every relationship of life. And then, in measure as we are faithful and diligent in whatsoever our hand findeth to do, we may hope to be employed in greater service. Perhaps there would be more religion in the house, if we sought it less out of the house, and rather learned this humbling yet ennobling lessor: in everything to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.

Equally marked was Elisha's readiness to hear the call of God. It is dangerous either to go before or to lag behind the Providence or the call of God. If the Lord has work for us, He will call us to it. But we must cultivate a spirit of attentive, prayerful readiness. Not that we expect an audible call from heaven, nor trust to an inward voice, but that God will so dispose of all things as to make our duty very plain. For this we must be content to wait; when it comes, we must be willing to obey and to follow. Moses was left for forty years in Midian before he was called to be the leader of Israel; Elisha followed for many years the

plough; and we may have before us years of labour and of trial. Yet, when the call came, Elisha immediately recognised that for which he had long been prepared in heart. To many the humble ploughman might have appeared a strange candidate for the prophetic office, very unsuited to the times and the circumstances. And his preparation may seem very different from our conventional ideas of such matters. But let there be no misunderstanding. God forbid that intellect, culture, or education, should be lightly set by. They are good gifts of God, to be consecrated to His service and for His glory. But the call of God consists not in them. They are outward helps for which we should be thankful, and which we are to use as outward helps. But if we confound the primary with the secondary, the substance with the accessories, we turn things strangely upside down. There is an outward call, as there is an inward call; an outward preparation, as there is inward preparation. Το overlook the inward call and preparation were spiritual ignorance and presumption. To ignore the outward call and preparation were folly and fanaticism. Nor are the two incompatible. Both are the gifts of God. The one is spiritual, the other external; the one the gift of His Providence, the other that of His grace. But, in His kingdom, providence and grace always work together for His glory.

Another feature in this narrative is Elisha's personal willingness to follow the call of God to its utmost consequences. Even less devout husbandmen than Shaphat and his son must, during the three and a half years' barrenness and famine, have learned to know Elijah and his mission. Probably they were among those who, on the summons of the prophet, had hastened to Mount Carmel, and there had witnessed the miraculous interposition of Jehovah. And now the appearance of him, clothed in camel's hair, and

girt about the loins with a girdle of skin, was not that of a stranger. The act of Elijah as, in passing by, he unfastened his mantle and threw it over Elisha, was deeply significant. It meant that the one was to appear like the other-that he was to hold the same office, and to discharge the same functions. With the quickness of a ready heart, the son of Shaphat understood the meaning of this action. It was not to a position of wealth, of ease, or of influence that he now felt called. On the contrary, all this had to be relinquished. He, a man of peace, was called from home, friends, and comforts, to endure hardship, to suffer persecution, to bear scorn. Yet he offered not frivolous excuses nor unbelieving objections, but arose and followed the Master. Elijah had passed on, as if unconcerned how Elisha received the call. It had been addressed to him, and it was his part voluntarily to decide for or against its acceptance. This explains what follows in the narrative. Hastening after the prophet, Elisha requested permission to bid farewell to his family and friends; or, as Matthew Henry puts it, he would "take leave, not ask leave." The answer of Elijah, "Go back, for what have I done unto thee?" is intended not as a rebuke, but as a trial. It meant, in effect: Unless your heart fully responds; if it fondly lingers on the past, go back to your home. With the call of Christ comes always the decisive question: Are we really willing to follow after Him, not as of necessity, nor from a painful sense of duty, but of a ready mind and joyous heart, choosing Christ as our portion, and deeming His reproach greater riches than the treasures of Egypt? It is as if Elijah had said: Do you ask what future may await you, what work or what trials? I know not. If this call finds an echo in your heart, come; if not, forbear! Come, not because I called you; see to it that this be the call of God, to which your heart fully responds; learn for "the