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Making Choices in a World of Choice
One of the things that rings out loud and clear in the story of Elijah is that God wants first place in our lives. He is not shy about declaring Himself God and asking for complete loyalty. “I am the Lord your God …. You shall have no other gods before Me.” “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul and mind….” Satan’s goal from Eden to today has been to put something else, anything else, in the place of God in our lives. Why? Because that’s what hurts God the most. If you want to hurt someone deeply, the easiest way is to hurt the ones that person loves. Satan’s weapon against God is sin, because it keeps people from living the full life God designed us to live. “I came so they can have real and eternal life, When our grown children stray from what we taught them, it hurts us – because we know that their lives could be so much better. It’s true of our Father. The sin of idolatry is when we put any other god in the place of the true God. Why would we do that? Because false gods promise what only the true God provides. During Elijah’s time people were serving the false gods Baal and Asherah. The promise: If you worship me, I’ll make your crops grow. But Elijah confronted King Ahab, declaring “it’s not going to rain until I say so.” In other words: If Baal is your god, then he’s the only one that’s going to be around for a while. You will live by the god you have chosen. No rain. Three years later, after a time of hiding and preparation for Elijah, God tells him to present himself to Ahab again. Ahab had been trying all this time to find Elijah and kill him, blaming him for the drought in Israel. But when they meet this second time, the prophet proposes a contest to the king. The purpose was simple: It’s time to decide who’s God. Elijah’s proposal was to gather the people and all the prophets of Baal and Asherah and meet him on Mount Carmel - because it’s time for a showdown! Ahab agrees. At Mount Carmel, Elijah asks the people: “How long will you waver between two opinions? To put it in our world: “Stop playing games. If material possessions (or other things) really do bring happiness, then go for it - collect all you can by any means you can! Test your god and see if it delivers what it promises. But if God is God then it’s time to put Him in His right place. Make Him the only true God in your life. Test Him and see if He delivers what He promises.” Elijah ordered that two altars be built and a sacrifice placed on each. The prophets of Baal would call out to their god and Elijah would call on Jehovah. Whichever god answered by fire and burned up the sacrifice, He was God. It was show time! So the prophets of Baal called on their god all day, dancing in a frenzy, singing, shouting, cutting themselves. But in the end Baal didn’t show up. Elijah stepped forward and prayed that the people would see that the Lord is God. Fire fell and burned up Elijah’s sacrifice; and when the people saw it they cried, “The Lord, He is God!” On Mount Carmel Elijah demonstrated what he had learned in Kerith and Zarepheth. He served the true God, walking with confidence because he knew that God could be trusted. Do we know that we can trust the true God? If the Lord is God, then follow Him.
__________________________________________ We encourage you to read 1 Kings 18:1-39 read the chapter Application Questions: As Christians we believe there is one true God, but often unintentionally we serve false gods. What are one or two false gods that continue to resurface in your life? What do these false gods promise you that only God can provide? What changes would you have to make to put God first in your life? What would you have to move out of the way?
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