Joshua Grubbs
Elijah then came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him, but if Baal, then follow him.” The people did not answer him a word.
I love a good work of historical fiction. One of my favorites from my adolescence, while it is clearly a dramatized and overcooked account, is the film The Kingdom of Heaven. At a pivotal scene in the narrative, the character of King Baldwin IV delivers this statement, “When you stand before God, you cannot say, ‘But I was told by others to do thus,’ or that, ‘virtue was not convenient at the time.’ This will not suffice.” This monologue’s sentiment has always stuck with me – ultimately, we all decide what we dedicate our lives too, and God has placed that decision in each individual’s care.
Elijah was no stranger to this idea. As he gets ready to challenge the prophets of Baal, he admonishes the Israelites to stop limping around and to make their choice. Elijah was always a fiery guy (no pun intended given the context of 1 Kings 18!), but sometimes a harsh statement is the one that we need to hear.
Elijah knew that it was no good for anyone to continually waffle back and forth like the Israelites. I am reminded of Christ’s admonition to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:15-16. “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
We make a lot of choices in life. We decide what type of career we want to pursue. We decide who to form relationships with. We decide, whether consciously or not, how we’re going to spend every minute that God gifts us on Earth. God doesn’t want us to spend our lives “limping” around as Elijah puts it. Jesus says in John 10:10b “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus wants a life for us not where we can barely walk, but one in which we can run and jump for the joy of the Lord.
As the Israelites stood in the promised land, Joshua placed before them a choice in Joshua 24:15, “Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served… but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Just as the Israelites were called by God out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and to a good land, we have been called by Christ from death and sin to abundant life in Him. And just as the Israelites, on multiple occasions as we see in the verses above, so too are we told to choose.
God has placed the decision in our hands. He has shown us His unimaginable love. He has redeemed us when we didn’t deserve it. We’ve been told we can choose the gods of this world, or the God of the universe who made each one of us.
We aren’t meant to limp. We’re meant to walk in renewed, full life.
Let’s make the choice.
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