A Journey to Easter - Day 16

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.

(1 Kings 18:21 ESV)

When a person limps along, they tend to favor a weak side. They struggle to have a strong, steady gait. I guess the same can be said when someone waivers between two opinions. The Hebrew word used in that situation is pasach. It means “to hesitate; or become lame.” And it can be translated as “limp.”

The prophet Elijah, in the famous showdown at Mt. Carmel recorded in 1 Kings 18, rhetorically asked the people gathered how long they would continue to go on limping between two opinions. Their faith straddled a proverbial fence. They refused to choose one god—causing their hearts to be divided, and their allegiance irregular. The people did not answer Elijah, because they couldn’t decide. They couldn’t make up their limping minds.

It’s impossible not to waver when you refuse to take a stand. A person certainly can’t stand firm when they’re swaying.

Elijah confronted the evil of his day, even though he was called a “troubler” for it (1 Kings 18:17). However, God proved—definitively—that He is God. And because He is, He wants our whole hearts.

Jesus addressed the same proclivity when He said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). Paul expounded similar logic when he, too, asked the rhetorical question, “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?” He immediately followed this up with this foundational doctrine: “You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living” (Romans 6:16 NLT). While we’re adding up rhetorical questions, there is this one—with an emphatic statement—from James: “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4). It is clearly presented as an either/or, not a both/and statement.

The choice seems obvious. Which means we don’t need to drift with the tides of change. Or limp along between altering opinions. We can resolutely determine that the Lord, He is God (1 Kings 18:39). There’s nothing false or hollow in that—for it is rock-solid truth. It’s not opinion, but fact.

When you follow the One True God, you won’t have multiple masters vying for your attention. Or dividing your heart. They’ll be no limping along on this spiritual journey!

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