A Charge to All Who Loved Mary

There is a void in the Kingdom with the loss of Mary Rhoades. There is one less laborer for the harvest.

I was deeply impressed with this thought as I spent an evening reflecting on her life, praying for clarity, and seeking answers on what I really believe. Afterwards I concluded that the Bible is indeed true, and I need to spend the rest of my life living out of this truth.

And then I asked for Mary's harvest. I asked God to give me the harvest she would have reaped had she lived long enough to see the fullness of her work come to maturity. Not that I could speak to all the teen moms she knew or tell all the same people she knows that they are beautiful and that I love them, but I can live my life with the same magnitude of impact. I want MY life to have the impact she has had, and I want to continue her legacy of love.

When Elijah knew he was going to ascend to Heaven he already had his successor, Elisha, in place to carry on his work. Elisha did not want to leave Elijah even though he was aware that it was Elijah's time to go.

In 2 Kings 2 it continues:

⁹ When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

¹⁰ “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise not.”

¹¹ As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. ¹² Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.

¹³ He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

¹⁵ The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

The cloak that fell from the sky was Elijah's mantle. A mantle is a symbol of the call and the anointing of the prophet. So with Elijah gone, Elisha received a double portion of his anointing to continue Elijah's call through him. He carried on the mission with double the power. I have heard it said that double the miracles are recorded for EliSha as EliJA.

There is work to be done for the Kingdom, people. Mary is gone and we all miss her. We mourn at the loss. We feel like the world is not as bright and happy without her. We feel it is not as kind or safe of a place to live with her gone. But there is work to be done. We are still here and it US now who must keep on with the legacy that Mary left behind.

What will your legacy be? Start living it now.