Good day
1 Kings 18:20-39
So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.” Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “ Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that these people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
One of the things that I enjoy about the above passage is the boldness of Elijah and how he seeks to make a clear distinction between those who follow God and those who followed a false god; and while there may be many lessons that can be extracted from this passage, what I would like to focus on is that there is evidence of a God.
Everyday is an opportunity for us as disciples of Christ to bring evidence to a lost world of the reality of God.
Evidence is only on display or showcased once an event has taken place, after there's been some form of action/occurrence/incident ... in our case, it may not be calling fire down from heaven but it can be in the love we show others, the reactions we choose to make, the good deeds we look to carry out or the opportunities taken to serve others and put others before ourselves. It can be the sharing of an answered prayer; how our lives were transformed by the grace and mercy of God and how good He has been to us; how we applied His word/principles and how it has transformed our lives for His glory, etc. ... Imagine how great it would be if our lives so shined with evidence of the character, nature and power of God that it demands a verdict from those looking on.
A verdict means that there's a decision that is taken based on all the evidence that is stacked up, on the other hand, if there's a lack of evidence it means that the case can be dismissed. The challenging question is, if our lives were on trial today, would there be enough evidence in our favour?
It is my desire that the evidence be so overwhelming in our favour that when people look at our lives that they have no choice but to rule/decide in our favour (come to accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour) and declare just as in the above passage, "when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!"
Amen