What will you risk--I Kings 19:19-21

Are you a risk taker? Some people are inherent risk takers. They’re the type of person who is always pushing the limit, trying to see how far they can go or what they can do. If I’d have to admit it, I’d say I am not really a risk taker. Nobody who has ever known me well has called me a daredevil. I like to play it safe. Part of this I guess is being a dad, but there’s more to it. I’m just not the type of guy who likes to live on the edge. I’ve noticed this specifically in a few areas of my life. For instance, if I am riding a bicycle, I am not the one to go barreling down a hill. I’m the guy riding the brake the whole time. I get to about 25 mph and start thinking to myself “hmm, I wonder what would happen if my tires fell off? What if a tire fell off and I went crashing down? That would not be fun, so I better slow down.” Those are the things that go through my mind. I’m out on the lake with the boat, throttling up, and I might—might get it to full throttle, but just to say I hit it, I’m not staying there for long. I just don’t like living on the edge like that. Sometimes Emily and I will talk about things like would you ever want to go skydiving, or bungee jumping, and my answer is always absolutely not! I couldn’t handle that! Maybe you could. Some people just have a daredevil type of personality. I’m not that person! ‌‌ But as we think about our spiritual lives, I wonder what we are willing to risk? What about Jesus? How much would you be willing to risk for Jesus? Too often believers in Jesus are willing to risk for things like bungee jumping or the stock market, but lose commitment when it comes to taking risks for Jesus. God’s desire for every one of His followers is that we take risks. That we be willing to “lay it all on the line” for the cause of Christ. Today we are going to study a man who did this—who took risks to follow God. This man is Elisha, and from his life we learn that we must follow God no matter what! That’s our big idea this morning. ‌‌ Big Idea: God expects his followers to risk everything in service to Him