Hobbling Between Two Opinions

Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent. 1 Kings 18:21

THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL were supposed to be the servants of God. But they still had plenty of Canaanite neighbors who did their best to make the worship of Baal attractive. In time, the Israelites decided to add a little Baal worship to their worship of Yahweh. They didn’t see it as a big deal, when really it was great wickedness. They knew the first commandment: “You must not have any other god but me” (Exodus 20:3), but apparently they didn’t believe it had to be that black-and-white, that all in or all out.

The time had come for a showdown. King Ahab and all the people of Israel were summoned to Mount Carmel, home turf for the prophets of Baal. There Elijah called for God’s people to stop wavering between worshiping Baal and worshiping Yahweh. They needed to take a firm stand and go all out one way or the other —either in following Baal or Yahweh.

When we hear Elijah’s indictment of their indecision, we recognize that we and our children struggle against the same double-mindedness. We want to serve God, but we want to make a lot of money. Our children want to please God, but they want to be popular. They want the security of heaven for later, but right now they want to have fun. But Jesus says we simply can’t serve two masters.

Our children may have grown up with Bibles that have their names imprinted on them, and they’ve probably heard hundreds of sermons and taken the Lord’s Supper. The reality, though, is that most are wavering between living for Christ and loving the world. They may not have come yet to a settled determination in their own minds about the Bible —if it is the Word of God or the invention of man. They may be wavering as to whether being a Christian will be the source of their identity or an occasional activity.

Perhaps we and our children need to take to heart Elijah’s challenge to our one-foot-in-the-world, one-foot-in-the-Word way of life: If the Lord is God, follow him!

Lord, you deserve so much more than our part-time devotion. You demand our total worship. You have set before us life and death, blessing and cursing, eternal glory or eternal misery. Show us our wavering ways. Put an end to our hobbling between the way of the Cross and the way of the world.