As Elijah stood before the people of Israel just before God’s miraculous display of power on Mt. Carmel, he asked them a question that we, too, must consider: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21).
Israel had chosen to break allegiance with their true King and instead followed the counsel and practices of Ahab, who “abandoned God’s commands and followed the Baals” (1 Kings 18:18). In judgment, the Lord sent a famine over the land for more than three years and then sent down fire on the altar to bring them to repentance (18:38).
Like Israel we are often lured away to follow the idols of our age and abandon allegiance to the Lord and his commands. While the gods of our age often do not have literal altars that require traditional sacrifices, they are real nonetheless. We worship comfort, success, money, power, influence and pleasure and sacrifice our time, energy and resources in pursuit of these idols. Instead of offering ourselves to God as living sacrifices as he calls us to do (Romans 6:13; 12:1-2), we turn our backs on him to worship these gods, which he says are no gods at all (Jeremiah 16:20).
As a result, God turns us over to a judgment that is far worse than a drought or fire display of his power, though it can include these. More drastically, we experience a famine or drought of his Word – hearing it but never understanding so that we can effectively apply it to our lives (Amos 8:11).
Jesus explains what this looks like in a person’s life who is consumed with the cares and idols of the world and is indifferent to the things of God. He says they will be “ever hearing but never understanding; …ever seeing but never perceiving” (Matthew 13:4). Like the seed that falls among the thorns, the word of God is choked out so that we, like Israel, live in dry, parched places where there is no water for refreshing (13:22).
Like Israel, he calls us to stop wavering between two opinions and to whole-heartedly serve and follow him. He warns us that, like Israel, we cannot serve two masters – “either we will love the one and hate the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). We cannot serve both God and money, along with the idols of this age. His antidote for us, as it was for Israel, is to repent and turn back to him in full devotion. Not only does he promise to bring soul refreshment as we return to him, but he assures us that instead of living in parched places we will experience his living water flowing from our lives (Jeremiah 17:5-8; John 7:38).
We all have a choice. Will we serve the Lord who is God or the idols who are no gods at all? Will we trust in worthless manmade gods or trust in the all-powerful Creator who made us and sustains our lives (Psalm 135:15-18; Proverbs 3:5-6)? This choice has life-altering implications for us just as it did for Israel.
I've included a link to one of Billy Graham's sermons on this topic, which he gave at the Yankee Stadium in 1957 before 85,000 people. His talk starts at about 18:46.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aZoqIwHsdM
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).
