Our Scripture reading today is 1 Kings 18:20-21.
Verse 21, "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word."
We are reading from the account of the famous miracle on Mount Carmel. The prophets of Baal verses the prophet of God, Elijah. The end result is God answers the prayer of Elijah by sending down fire to consume the altar and even all the water around it. You can read further into this chapter for all the powerful details.
What has always intrigued and amazed me about verse 21 is the response of the people. They had no response to Elijah's question. It is an indicator to me that they were wanting to worship both the false god, Baal, and the one true God, Yahweh. They were hoping back and forth between the two. I am not downgrading the miracle that is about to happen, but how often do we need a "miracle" before we will wholly follow the Lord? Hasn't God already proven Himself to be faithful in our lives? Surely, someone in the crowd that day could have shouted, "We choose to follow God and not Baal!"
I leave you with Mr. Spurgeon's thoughts on this verse: "Elijah’s appeal also called his hearers to account for the period of time in which they had not made a decision between Yahweh and Baal. “How long,” he asked them. “How many more sermons do you want? How many more Sundays must roll away wasted? How many warnings, how many sicknesses, how many toilings of the bell to warn you that you must die? How many graves must be dug for your family before you will be impressed? How many plagues and pestilences must ravage this city before you will turn to God in truth? How long halt ye between two opinions?”
May each of us wholly follow our Saviour today!