Have you ever broken someone’s heart by choosing someone else over them? Maybe you took a friend’s viewpoint over your brother’s or decided to go out with the guys instead of your girl or listened to a coworker instead of your parents. If you are like me, there have been many times someone I loved got hurt because I chose poorly.
God says over and over in Scripture that his followers are to choose him first above everything else. In Exodus 20, where you find the Ten Commandments, the very first one is “No thing or other god is to come before me.” Jesus restates that in Mark 12:30-31 where he says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength…no other thing is more important than that.
Sadly, you and I put things in front of God every day. They are things we put our faith in but they all fall short. What we discover is that false gods promise what only the true God provides. We look for happiness, joy, peace of mind, and reassurance from things like money, possessions, sex, relationships, degrees and accomplishments but all of things fall short of what they promise.
Elijah has some words for us in 1 Kings 18 when he says, “Stop wavering between two opinions.” He then goes on to say “sell out” to the thing you truly believe in…if it’s money, then go all in…if it’s anger and entitlement, bet the house…if is that addiction you don’t want to shake, cash in but if you believe God will provide all things, then choose him! Stop going back and forth and follow the one person who has your back in so many ways. Follow the one true God who truly loves you and wants what’s best for you.
There is this epic showdown between Elijah and 450 false prophets in 1 Kings 18. At the end of the story, the false god, Baal, doesn’t answer his prophets at all while the true God sends fire down from heaven to liquidate Elijah’s sacrifice. It’s in that moment all of Israel proclaims that YHWH is the one true God. You might be saying, “Well yeah. If I been there and seen that, I would have most definitely believed.” But we had something even better.
2000 years ago, Jesus, not fire, came down from heaven and we know that story to be true. It changed everything for us. We now know true love and we have joy and peace and hope in our life for a beautiful tomorrow.
So the call is that you and I would say yes to Jesus and allow the false gods sitting on the throne of our hearts to melt away. It’s time to quit wavering…it’s time to choose Jesus. You and I want a better life and Jesus is the only one who can offer that to us. Blessings on your journey.