A Double Portion

Do you ever hear a common phrase and actually stop to think about what it’s saying? There’s a phrase my wife and I hear often that has become a bit of a pet peeve. It’s usually said at funerals by a person who comes up to speak about the deceased. They’ll usually say something like, “If I ever become half the person they were…” Another way they’ll say it is, “I hope to accomplish half of what they did.” Think about that. If you were half or only did half, then the next generation only wanted to be half of you, they would only do a quarter of the first person. Why do we insist on going backwards? Why do we only aspire to be half of someone else’s legacy? It’s not Biblical, nor is it God’s intention for you to only do a portion of the previous generation.

In 2 Kings 2, we read the story of Elijah being taken to Heaven in a chariot of fire. All day long he’s going from place to place while his assistant Elisha follows him. At each city, he tells Elisha to stay there, but he refuses. Also at each city there are prophets who tell Elisha that Elijah is about to be taken to Heaven. In verse 9, Elijah asks Elisha, “‘Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.’ And Elisha replied, ‘Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor’” (NLT). Elisha didn’t aspire to be half of who elijah had been. He wanted to be twice the person. He didn’t want to do half of what elijah had done, he wanted to do twice as much. Guess what? He did! God honored what he spoke and gave him a double portion so he could accomplish twice as much.

1 Corinthians 9:24 says, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” Why would you on,y want to run at half the speed as someone else in a race? God is calling you and me to more. He wants to give us greater amounts of His Spirit and blessing, but if we only ask for half we’re missing out on all He has for us. It’s time you and I asked God for a double portion instead of a half portion. We live in a world that desperately needs what we have. We need the mantle of Elijah on us with a double portion of what God gave him. We need a double portion of the boldness that Early Church received at Pentecost. James 4:2 says that we don’t have things because we don’t ask God for them. Take time today to ask God to give you a double portion of what He has for you so you can accomplish all He created you to do and then some.

Photo by Todd Diemer on Unsplash