Xanthe Hancox

Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’ But the people said nothing. 1 Kings 18:21

This is a fairly well known passage in the Bible that tells the story of one man, Elijah, making a stand for God against an evil king and those who worshipped false gods.

There were two groups of people on Mount Carmel that day. The first comprised the priests who worshipped the false gods, 450 prophets of Baal and 400 of Asherah.

The second group, the majority of the people there, was the fence-sitting people from all over Israel.  They were hovering between two very different worldviews. If asked, they would no doubt say that that believed in the God of Israel, but they were all bowing the knee to other gods. They had no solid commitment to either God Almighty or the many man-made false gods. Caught between two opinions, the people of Israel were committed to nothing therefore open to everything.

That’s exactly what Elijah challenges them and us about as we read this story. When he asks, “How long will you waver between two opinions,” he could well be speaking to the church around the world today. So many are trying to play both sides of the fence by trying to keep a foot in both worlds.

The American preacher AW Tozer said it well when he wrote, ‘”Whoever is on God’s side is on the winning side and cannot lose; whoever is on the other side is on the losing side and cannot win. Here there is no chance, no gamble. There is freedom to choose which side we shall be on but no freedom to negotiate the results of the choice once it is made. By the mercy of God we may repent a wrong choice and alter the consequences by making a new and right choice. Beyond that we cannot go.”

Take some time today to read 1 Kings 18. God revealed to the Israelites in a spectacular way that his side is the winning side. Will you choose his side today?

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I have been no different from the Israelites so long ago. I chose you again this day, no compromise, no turning back, no sitting on the fence, wavering between you and the world. Amen