1 Kings 19:19-21 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+19%3A19-21&version=ESV

“He’s a family man.” “Good old family values.” “There’s nothing more important than family.” We’ve heard it, we’ve probably said it. To a certain degree it’s true. Among the gifts that God has given us in this world, family stands out as a particularly bright and beautiful gem. Companionship. Joy. Laughter. Love. Snuggling up on the couch. Little arms around your neck. Family dinners. These are all truly wonderful things. And Elisha left it all – just like that. That’s because there is something greater than family. Truthfully, it is the only thing greater than family but it is far greater – that’s God. When God came calling for Elisha to give it all up, he did. Just like that. One day, Jesus was told that his family was looking for him. “Who are my mother and my brothers and my sisters?” Jesus said. “They are those who hear my word and do it.” There’s an old idea at weddings. The parents of the bride may often feel something along the lines of “We aren’t losing a daughter but gaining a son.” So with Elisha. When he left his family, what he was losing, though a great thing, was very small compared to the family that he was joining. So it is with us. A day will almost certainly come when God will call you to leave your family in some way. Perhaps it will simply be through death – yours or theirs. Or maybe it will be because your faith will drive a wedge between you. Who knows. But if it happens, remember this – though it is sorrowful to lose those we love, what we have in Christ, in the family of God is much greater. We have brothers and sisters in the forgiveness and peace won for us by Christ’s sacrifice. We have a Father who smiles down upon us. We have a home of eternal joy. We have a new family.

In Christ