We talk much now-a-days about deeds of bravery, and about the honours which are given to the men who have thus distinguished themselves; and these honours are given them by our King, and the brave deeds are spoken of from one end of the world to the other! You will like to know what honours Elijah had? He was allowed to go to Heaven without dying; and he was allowed long afterwards to come back from the glory to talk with the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. These wonderful "distinctions" were not given him by any earthly king, but by God Himself; and as we follow out the story of Elijah's life, we shall ourselves, perhaps, have a peep into that glory which Jesus is even now preparing for those who love and follow Him. I have read that Elijah's name means "My God is Jehovah!" and it seems to me that this is a brave motto for each one of us, "My God is Jehovah!" "For in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength." The first mention we have of the Prophet Elijah, who came from the land of Gilead, was in the reign of King Ahab. God chose Elijah, who was very brave, to rebuke the king for his many acts of wickedness. We read that Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God than any of the other kings before him. One day Elijah went to Ahab and told him: "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before Whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." This loss of rain was doubtless sent as a great punishment for the idolatry and sin into which the whole people of Israel had fallen. Then the Word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, "Turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan." God did not forget His faithful servant in the famine that was coming; and He told him He had commanded the ravens to feed him, and that he would be able to drink of the brook. Here, amidst the rocks and fastnesses, he was safe from the wrath of Ahab and of Jezebel, Ahab's wife, who hated Elijah with all her heart. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook. But when the hot days came the brook began to grow less and less, because there had been no rain, and at last the brook dried up; and then the Word of the Lord came to him again: "Arise and go to Zarephath, near Sidon: I have commanded a widow woman to feed thee there." So Elijah went the long journey to Zarephath, and just outside the gate he saw a woman gathering sticks; and, too thirsty to wait till he reached her side, he called to her: "Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water to drink!" And as she was going to fetch it, he called again: "And bring me a morsel of bread in thine hand!" But she quickly answered: "I have not any bread! I have nothing but a little meal in the bottom of the barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and I was gathering a few sticks to bake a little loaf for me and my son, that we may eat it and die!"