What Your Pastor Wants You to Catch

2 Kings 13:18

And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.

Elisha became frustrated with Joash because of his lack of commitment and zeal for God. To Joash’s credit, he had a great respect for the man of God, but he never seemed to glean from the preacher what he needed to glean in order to carry out God’s agenda in his kingdom. As Elisha was on his deathbed, he told Joash to take his arrows and smite the ground. Joash did what Elisha said, but he only smote the ground three times. Elisha became angry with Joash because he told him he should have smitten the ground five or six times, because it represented what how much God would defeat Syria in his reign. Though Joash was a good man, he never quite got the passion, zeal, commitment to God, and vision of his preacher.

One of the great burdens of any preacher is for those he leads to have the same zeal, the same passion, the same vision and the same power that he has. Most people only go so far and stay, and that’s what hurts the next generation. Your pastor would love for you to learn what keeps him going. There are many good people in churches who lack what it takes for that church to do something great for God. Many love their pastor and follow him, but few ever catch from him what he is teaching them. My pastor for many years was Dr. Jack Hyles. I was not the only one who sat under his pastorate, but thousands heard him preach weekly, but few ever truly caught what he taught. Let me share a few things your pastor would love for you to catch from him.

First, he would love for you to catch the same zeal. A lack of zeal for God in our churches is what keeps God from doing the miraculous in today’s church. The lack of passion for God is seen by the unwillingness of God’s people to give their all for Christ. If you are backing up in what you are doing for God, you are the contributor to the problem of our nation dying. Zeal is a necessary trait for God’s work to do great things in our day.

Second, he would love for you to catch his commitment. Nobody has done anything great for God who was not all-out committed to God. An all-out commitment to truth and the church are necessary for God to do great things through a life and a church. You ought to catch the commitment your pastor has for God and the church. If you are unwilling to be all-out committed to God, you are contributing to the demise of our nation and society.

Third, he would love for you to catch his vision. A good pastor will have a great vision for God. Your pastor needs you to catch his vision and help to make it become a reality. The pastor cannot make the vision God has given to him become a reality by himself, but he needs YOU to catch the same vision and be as committed as he is to see the vision become a reality.

Fourth, he would love for you to catch the same power that he has from God. God’s power is the key to God using you. You can copy many things from your pastor, but if you don't catch that it takes God’s power, all you do to copy your pastor will fail. If there is anything you ought to catch, catch the need for God’s power and get it on your life so that God can use you mightily in His service.