Burn the Plows. Follow the Purpose.

Pastor Flávio Macieira — 2025

This reflection is part of the series "The Mantle and the Call of the Successor," inspired by themes from the book "The Desert Therapy."

True freedom isn't found in keeping all your options open, but in having the courage to close the doors that lead you away from your destiny in God.

We have all stood at a crossroads. That moment when a new path opens up, a call from God echoes, but the past offers the comfortable security of what we already know. The great question isn't whether we will follow, but how. Elisha's response to Elijah's call teaches us a radical lesson about the cost and beauty of total surrender.

“So he left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,’ he said, ‘and then I will come with you.’ ‘Go back,’ Elijah replied. ‘What have I done to you?’ So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate.” (1 Kings 19:20-21a, NLT)

Elisha's action goes far beyond a simple career change. By kissing his parents, he honors his past. But by slaughtering the oxen and burning the plow, he annihilates it. The plow was his livelihood, his professional identity, his "plan B." By burning it, Elisha makes a public and irreversible declaration: "There is no going back."

Think of an executive who feels called to leave her corporate career to open a shelter for the homeless. It's one thing to resign. It's another thing entirely to sell all her company stock and invest every penny into the new project. That is burning the plow. It's removing the safety net and saying to God, "Now, my only source of provision and security is You."

Our modern "plows" can have many names: a relationship that ties us to a godless past, an income source that compromises our values, or even our reputation and the image we've built for ourselves. Keeping them around seems prudent, a form of self-protection.

However, the faith God calls us to is one that trusts in His provision, not in our escape routes. Elisha's radical surrender was not an act of recklessness but of profound worship and trust. He understood that to fully embrace the new purpose, he had to let go of everything that defined him before.

God's grace frees us to make this choice. It is not a burden but an invitation to a lighter life, without the weight of serving two masters: God's call and the security of our past. Burning the plows is an act of faith that creates the necessary space for God to build something new and much greater.

Your Next Step of Faith Identify a "plow" in your life—a safety net or an attachment to the past that competes with your calling. Pray and ask God for the courage to "burn" that dependency, trusting fully in His provision for your future.

The Soul's Mirror

• What is the cost of keeping your "plows" intact? What peace and freedom might you be missing?

• Does the fear of uncertainty prevent you from making radical decisions for God? How does Elisha's attitude inspire you to trust more?

• Whom or what do you need to "kiss goodbye" to follow your purpose without reservation?

Prayer

Lord, You call me to a new journey, but I confess that I am afraid to let go of what is familiar. Give me the courage of Elisha to burn the plows that tie me to the past. May my trust not be in my safety nets, but in Your sovereign provision. I want to follow You without reservation. In Jesus' name, amen.

A true "yes" to God often requires a definitive "no" to everything else.

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