Daily Dose of the Word of God - 1 Kings 18:22-29

Kelly Day, Motorcycle Enthusiast and Coffee Break Bible Study Director

Transcript

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. It's Tuesday, November 5. It's a season of green and growing things because God is on a mission to keep us growing up in and out. 

Today's reading is from I Kings: 18:22-29. "Then Elijah said to them, I am the only one of God's prophets left. But Baal has 450 prophets. Get two bowls for us. Let Baal's prophets choose one for themselves and let them cut and cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bowl and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your God, and I will call on the name of the Lord, the God, who answers by fire. He is God. Then all the people said, what you say is good? Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose one of the bowls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you, call on the name of your God, but do not light the fire. So they took the bowl given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. Baal answer us. They shouted, but there was no response. No one answered, and they danced around the altar they had made. At noon, Elijah began to taunt them, saying, shout louder. He said, Surely He is a God. Perhaps he is deep in thought or busy or traveling; maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened. So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Mid-day passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response. No one answered. No one paid attention. 

Right before these verses, we see Elijah talking to the people of Israel, saying, "How long will you wave her between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal is God, follow him."

But the people said nothing. They were not sold on God as being their one true God. They wanted the worldly stuff and the alternative gods like Baal; the people had a choice to make. Who were they going to follow today's devotional falls on Election Day, a day Americans have to make a choice of who will lead the country. Now, this is a big decision, but it is far from our most important one. Like the people in Elijah's day, I pray that we decide who we are going to follow as Lord and King of our life. There is no person or party but our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We must decide each and every day to make him our priority and live according to His will and ways. Dear Lord our God. You are Father, King, and Creator; I pray that you would forgive us for the days that we get swept in the ways of the world and look to false gods for answers. We could be so foolish and easily let off your path of righteousness. I ask that you would move our hearts to prioritize our decision to follow you, that we may act like your disciples and all we do and say, I thank and praise You, Lord as our one and only true God, Amen.