Monday 30 January 2006

How long halt ye between two opinions

“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” - 1 Kings 18v21

Ahab was the most evil king Israel had. He made things worse by marrying Jezebel, a Sidonian who also worshipped false gods. They dragged Israel into idolatry. What made things worse is that he people tried to combine their false worship with the worship of Jehovah.

Because of this situation God sent a drought on the land. He also sent His prophet Elijah to deal with the nation. Elijah called for a great contest at Mt Carmel. He faced 450 prophets of Baal while he stood alone.

When Elijah came to the people he dealt with their sin, “How long will you continue to falter between two opinions? If the Lord be God follow Him, and if Baal is god than follow him.”

Elijah made it clear – they did not have the option of worshipping both God and Baal. They had to decide on one or the other. Jesus repeated this when He said that we could not serve both God and mammon.
Too many Christians try to lead the compromise life. They want to serve God, but they also can’t quite let go of the world. Just like Israel – we can’t have it both ways. The choice is ours, will we serve God or our own version of Baal?

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