“Whoever is not with me is against me.” – Matthew 12:30
Scripture reading: 1 Kings 18:16-24
There’s no half-way in our response to the Lord. For “If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” God is a jealous God Who will not tolerate rivals (Ex. 20:5). But limping between two opinions -catering to two religions diametrically opposed – that’s what Israel, under Ahab, was doing. Thus, he tolerates godly Obadiah along with the 450 prophets of Baal.
In a day when many claim to be “spiritual” and in their own way “Christians”, the Word of God confronts us and says, “If the Christ of the cross be the Saviour, then follow Him, but if the “christ” of popular opinion be true, follow him.” One demands the surrender of our hearts and wills to Him, and says take up your cross and follow me – that you must lose your life in order to find it. The other is simply an add-on to an otherwise worldly life. One is the pathway of liberty from sin, the other is the “freedom” to sin as you please. One leads to the joy of everlasting life; the other to temporal misery and eternal death. Unwilling to commit themselves to one or the other, many, even in the church today, “limp” between these two opinions, showing little steadiness in their walk, as they continue to attend church, but align themselves with the world. In the midst of a confused generation and a halfhearted church, may we show the world what Elijah’s name really means: that “My God is Yahweh (the LORD)”-and that He is Lord alone!
Suggestions for prayer
Pray for consistency in renouncing the “Baals” of our culture for devotion to Christ. Plead that you not be conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of your mind through the Word of God.
Rev. Barry Beukema is a graduate of Calvin College and Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. He has pastored the Christian Reformed Churches in Burdett, Alberta and Smithers, British Columbia. He then pastored the URCNA churches of Smithers, BC, Thunder Bay, ON, Lacombe, AB, Neerlandia, AB, and is now pastoring the United Reformed Church of Taber, Alberta.Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
