A Man of God

In II Kings 1:9 a captain of Israel, speaking to Elijah, says, ‘Man of God, the King has said, “come down!”’ Upon hearing this, Elijah answers, ‘If I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.’ For those of you who do not take the Bible literally, this may come as a surprise, but I believe that when the Bible says, ‘and fire came down and consumed him and his fifty,’ that it actually happened.

I use this as an introduction into something I have wanted to write on for some time: What is a man of God? And am I a man of God?

No, I don’t want to call down fire on all those who may oppose me, but I do want to be known as a man of God. When I read the Bible, I am struck by Elijah and Elisha as those who were really known as men of God. I believe people called them, ‘man of God’ because they knew they had a close walk with God, and that they had power with God. Can this happen today? Now, maybe we can’t perform miracles like they did, but I believe that God would like more men to desire to be men of God.

First, it takes a desire to know God – to know Him intimately and passionately. God wants more then anything that we love Him with all we have.

If we love Him, the next step is to trust Him explicitly. This is a great thing, to abandon that which we feel we need, to stop trusting in bank accounts, stocks, jobs, or anything that we believe is necessary. Don’t get me wrong, I have all these, and I am not saying they are unimportant. They are very important, but if we are trusting in them, then what we are doing is wrong. Remember, ‘without faith it is impossible to please God.’

It is very important to desire a close relationship with God. When we understand that God wants this more than anything else, it will help us to keep our lives clean and walk close to our God. At some point each day, we need to spend time both in communicating with God in prayer, and in letting him speak to us through His Word.

Finally, like Elijah and Elisha, we need to let people know where we stand. If we take a stand for God and what is right, it won’t take long before others will know Whose we are. And then, they may not call us, ‘man of God,’ but they may be thinking that. Most of all, I want the Lord to know me as a man of God. There is no higher compliment.