Go The Distance

 You may not know the name Julie Moss, but if you are old enough to remember the show Wide World of Sports, then you might have seen her. To find out more about what she did and what she has in common with the prophets, Elijah and Elisha and the Spanish conquistador, Hector Cortez. Check it out on this episode of the 318 project. 

This is the 318 project, a guide to equip men through godly principles and develop as husbands, fathers, and sons. And now your host, Ryan Hare.  Hello, I'm Ryan Hare and welcome to the three 18 project. So what do all of these people have in common? Well, I'm going to discuss about going the distance. Now, in 1 Kings chapter 19 verses 1 through 8, Elijah flees to Horeb in fear of Jezebel after defeating her 400 prophets of Baal.

In verses 9 through 18 of that same chapter, God would then appear to Elijah. In verse 13, when Elijah heard God whisper to him, he hid his face in his cloak or his mantle. Then in verse 19 of that same chapter, we see that Elijah meets Elisha.  Elisha at that time was in the field plowing. He was the 12th pair of plows that were plowing in that row and at that time Elijah comes to him, throws his cloak on Elisha, which represents a transferring of prophetic power to come.

The very thing we see that Elijah had used as a security blanket or coping device to hide behind when God had appeared to him, God can then now use that same mantle or cloak as a vessel of power and authority and strength. To encourage others and this is something of mentorship and discipleship  We see that then at the end of that chapter Elisha would slaughter the oxen that he had on the plow Burn the plow to cook the meat and give it to the people his decision to go the distance At all costs this was no turning back.

He was completely committed to follow Elijah.

Now back in History, we see in 1519, the Spanish conquistador, Hector Cortes, he comes and he arrives in To Mexico. He had his 600 men  that had sailed with him in his 11 ships. He told these men that had over a hundred sailors with him, but then he had his soldiers that they needed to burn the ships.

Many had plotted to take some of the ships and flee to what is now Cuba. This command to burn the ships, sent a message that there was no turning back and we see that two years after he had landed in Mexico that he then conquers the Aztec Empire. This phrase burn the ships is to mean that you are fully committed to a cause purpose or goal.

This demonstrates that it is better to show a commitment of moving forward than to stop and hesitate. When we are faced with new challenges and changes, we want to leave a way out. As an emergency, if we keep a ship in our sights, then we will tend to give up when it gets tough.  By destroying the ships, Cortes ensured his crew would be motivated, dedicated, and willing to work together for a purpose.

Then we see in 2  Kings 2 verses 1- 10 where Elijah tells Elisha that he will be taken up to heaven. Then  During this time, he goes to Bethel and he tells Elisha to stay in Gilgal. Elisha responds with, As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. We read in these verses that there was a company of prophets of Bethel that followed and watched and even warned Elisha that Elijah was going to be taken.

Now, this company of prophets, they were probably prophets in training, much like Elijah. Seminary students we see today in Bible colleges. These were men that were being trained by Elijah  as he traveled to each city. Elijah then tells Elisha to stay in Bethel while he goes over to Jericho. Elisha again, gives the same response that they go together to Jericho, that he would not leave his side.

The company of prophets at Jericho also warns Elisha. Yeah. Elijah then would tell Elisha to stay because the Lord has sent me to Jordan.  In verse 7, the 50 men from the company of prophets follow and watch from a distance as Elijah and Elisha go up to the Jordan River. Elijah then takes his cloak, that mantle he was carrying, that he had anointed Elisha with earlier, and even had hidden his face from the voice of God when he was hiding in the mountain.

He takes that same cloak, rolls it up, and strikes the Jordan with it.  The Jordan River parts, and they cross over on dry ground.  Elijah then asks Elisha, what can he do before he is taken away? Elisha's reply is, let me have a double portion.  So what is taking up the mantle? In the Bible, the double portion was always reserved for the firstborn male child of a family.

That was the right, the birthright of a firstborn son. Elijah responds that this is a hard thing. Yet if he, Elisha, saw him taken up, then it would be his.  We then see in verse 11 that it says they walked and talked along the way together and when the chariot of fire came, it had to separate them.  This indicates that they were walking shoulder to shoulder as brothers.

In discipleship, we must be willing to walk as close as possible to those we are leading or being led by.  Elisha then, after Elijah was taken up. We see that he tears his clothes. He picks up Elijah's cloak. He then walks to the Jordan, strikes the water, and crosses back over on dry ground.  The company of prophets from Jericho witnessed this same event that had just taken place.

But the thing about those 50 prophets and Elisha was that they were watching from a distance.  They weren't close by, they weren't shoulder to shoulder. They were in watching from a distance as this happened. They would even come and ask Elisha," can we look for him".  Even in the New Testament, we see in Matthew chapter 16 verses 13 through 23 Jesus would ask his disciples Who do people say that the Son of Man is?  

Their responses were John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. We see that Elijah was the forerunner in the Old Testament of Jesus Christ. Yet, the disciples and others were looking for one just like Elijah, not knowing that they were in the presence of one greater than Elijah.  Peter then says to Jesus that He,  Jesus, was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. 

In verse 24, Jesus then tells the disciples, If anyone wants to follow after me,  let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. To follow Jesus meant that they would have to follow the example that Jesus had shown them. Emulating his character and behavior, even after Christ's death and resurrection.

He appeared to them on several occasions over the next 40 days.  We see in John chapter 21 that Peter tells the others  that he is going fishing. He's going back to what he knew before he met Jesus. He had, in a sense, was following Christ. But he had not burned the ships to leave any chance of being completely sold out Once he encountered Jesus on the beach and Jesus restored peter He would again once say follow me. 

So I'm talking about going the distance in a lot of this. So what is going the distance?  In the Cambridge Dictionary, it is defined as to manage or continue until the end of a competition.  In YourDictionary. com, it says to have the endurance to see a difficult, sustained challenge to its natural end without faltering.

And  in Oxford Dictionary,  it references some points of in boxing.  It is to complete a fight without being knocked out in baseball. It is to pitch the entire length of a game.  It is basically to continue to the end, no matter how difficult.  And we've seen that in the story of Elijah and Elisha and even with Hector Cortez. 

When we always hear people talk about and teach on discipleship, two examples that are most often referenced is Jesus and his disciples, which I just discussed. But then the second is Paul,  and especially in his letters to Timothy, Titus, and the churches to help edify and encourage them through all the trials and tribulations they would face or were facing. 

In the movie Field of Dreams, the main character, Ray Kinsella, he is following the prompting of The Voice to build a baseball field. It then directs him to go see a gentleman named Terrence Mann and to take him to a baseball game. At the ball game, he sees some information about a player that had played many years ago.

And then he hears The Voice tell him to go. Go the distance.  At that point, Ray then tells Terry, does he wish to leave? They leave. He takes them back home to drop him off at his house. At that point it again, it's telling Ray to go to this small town in Minnesota. And as he's getting ready to leave and drop Terrence man off, Terrence tells him, "I wish I had your passion, Ray, as misguided as it may be, it's still a passion. I used to feel that way about things." Isn't that ironic how a lot of times, even ourselves, we may get that point of our passion dwindles and we lose confidence as we go through things and trials in life that we lose some of that passion that we have, especially in our Christian walk.

And as leaders and disciples, do we have that passion and desire to pursue and walk with others through not just the good times, but also those tough times.  See, Paul was in prison when he wrote most of his letters in the books in the New Testament. He would then let them know that even through his trials and turmoil, he counted it all joy to suffer for Christ's sake.

In 2nd Timothy chapter 4, Paul is writing to Timothy just before Paul is going to face his death. And in verse 2, he encourages Timothy to preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season; with reproach, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. This  is true for anyone that is mentoring someone because it takes each of those points in teaching, rebuking, and even correcting those that we are leading in discipling. 

So at the beginning, I told you about this young lady. Julie Moss, I still remember when I was a kid watching that show wide world of sports and one of those things that I remembered was an episode that they did on the Ironman triathlon, so in 1982  Julie Moss was competing in one of her first triathlons  And especially in this one, the Ironman triathlon, she was leading by 20 minutes at the start of the run portion.

So this was the third leg. The first part is the swim. The second part is cycling. And the last part is a full marathon. At the start of that marathon, third leg, she was up by 20 minutes. And in the last mile, Of that marathon, her legs began to get weak and her body began to shut down.  She would walk for a while, then slowly start jogging for several yards, then stop, and even at the point she would fall and collapse, she would get back up, stagger, try to start running again, and then collapse again. 

When she got to the last 30 yards of a marathon, her legs completely gave out, and she could barely even stand. She would take two or three steps and fall again.  There are those around her trying to help her. They're encouraging her, trying to help her up, and with the last 30 feet, from the finish line she can see the finish line just ahead.  Her opponent that was in second place passes her by to win  the Ironman triathlon for the women. And even for that lady, she was in amazement because she had figured the other girl had already won. She did not realize she was so focused on running to realize that she had passed Julie Moss and even Others had to explain to her that she had just won and yet through this though Julie didn't give up to the point that she had to crawl to cross the finish line she knew and saw her goal and the toll and cost it had on her body yet she still pushed to the finish line. She went the distance. 

We see that in Paul again  Timothy in verse 7. He tells Timothy. He says "I have fought the good fight I have finished the course I have kept the faith  not just in faith Any race or course or faith, but it was in what he was doing for Jesus Christ and for the kingdom of God." He had completely sold out. He was in his earlier time before that encounter on the road to Damascus, that he was so sold out on destroying the church that now he was so sold out on winning souls for the kingdom of God. 
We see even in Philippians chapter 3, verses 12 through 14, Paul would tell the church in Philippi, "Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on that I may lay hold of that which Jesus Christ has also laid for me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do Forgetting those things which are behind me and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I Press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus ."

 So as we're closing out, I just want to encourage you that going the distance requires us to press on Towards that goal that God has for each and every one of us Not just for your own personal gain, but to help lead others to see their goal and potential that Christ has for each and every one of them that you're leading or teaching or guiding and to help them run the race that God has called for them to pursue.

Whether it is being a teacher, a leader, a mentor, even called into the ministry as a pastor, an evangelist, whatever it may be that you are guiding them to grow into what God has called them to be. You're leading them and to know that they may face, and even you are going to face those difficult times, but that God has assured you that the goal is worth it.

The crown of righteousness is waiting for each and every one of us when we finish that race, when we have run it at all costs, not giving up, pursuing it and going the distance. So I want to thank you for joining me on this episode of the 318 Project. And again, I would love for you to be sure to Like it subscribe and share it with others so that they can hear this to encourage them About going the distance and as always I want you to have a blessed and wonderful day. Thank you for joining on this adventure of integrity and honor in godly masculinity. Be sure to like subscribe and share this podcast with other men  and remember to keep building faithful men.