Choose to worship only God

450 to 1. These are the odds the Old Testament prophet Elijah faced more than 2,500 years ago.

At that time the nation of Israel was ruled by King Ahaz. Ahaz disobeyed the Lord. He oppressed the people and led them in worshiping agrarian fertility gods – the Baals. The land suffered from drought. God’s people were thirsty, and the crops would not grow. They looked at other nations and saw them worshiping these gods, who supposedly provided for the needs of the crops. Therefore they decided to hedge their bets and worship the Baals in addition to worshiping the Lord. Only Elijah remained true to the Lord.

Because Elijah called the people to repent, King Ahaz believed Elijah was a threat. He had been trying to kill Elijah. But then the Lord appeared to Elijah and told him to go to Ahaz. When Elijah met Ahaz and 450 prophets of Baal, Elijah challenged them to a test to prove who was really God.

Each would prepare a bull for sacrifice to their god, but neither would light the sacrificial fire. They would call upon their god to light the fire.

The prophets of Baal went first. They prepared their altar and cried out to Baal from morning until noon, but there was no answer. Elijah mocked them: “Cry louder! Maybe he is meditating. Maybe he is on a trip. Maybe he is asleep, and you need to wake him up.” These prophets cried louder but saw no response.

Then Elijah had his turn. He repaired the altar of the Lord. He lay wood upon the altar and a bull. Then Elijah came near to the altar and cried out: “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God of Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding.” Then the fire of the Lord fell upon the altar and consumed the offering completely.

At this display of power, the people fell on their faces worshiping the Lord and crying: “The Lord indeed is God. The Lord indeed is God.”

We may think the worship of agrarian fertility gods has nothing to do with us today. But in many ways we face the same issues those Israelites did. Elijah summed up the problem when he said to the Israelites: “How long will you go limping with two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” In other words, decide. It is not possible to worship two gods.

Sometimes we are tempted to worship other gods. We may not build altars and sacrifice bulls, but our worship of other gods can be just as real. Just like those people, we are tempted to look away from the Lord and look to other sources for our security. It may be we look to the approval of others, or to our money and possessions, or to position and power. Security comes from identity, knowing who you belong to. Elijah knew he and the people belonged to the Lord.

We also belong to the Lord. He is our God. He provides what we need. He leads us when we are lost. He heals our lives when they are broken. He gives us life just as he did for those Israelites. Now we are called to choose to worship him and him alone. This is not easy. True worship of God demands sacrifice. It will mean making the Lord’s will the priority in our lives. It may mean sharing our things with others so through our actions God can provide security to others. It may mean choosing to respond with generosity and forgiveness when someone says something hurtful. It may mean choosing to act in ways that serve others rather than in ways that dominate others. Through the actions of our lives, we worship and honor our Lord.

At times this will be difficult. But we are not alone. Elijah was not alone. Elijah trusted in the Lord. When Elijah trusted, the Lord used his faith to reveal the Lord’s glory. The same is true for us. When we trust in the Lord, our God will use our faithfulness and reveal his glory to the world.

This story was originally published June 17, 2016 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Choose to worship only God."