Revival includes a Call to Commitment
1 Kings 18:21-25
21. Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.
22. Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.
23. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it.
24. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire-- he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
25. Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire."
Elijah went up before the people and faced them with their sin. “How long will you totter between two opinions?” The problem is you cannot live two lives with God. Elijah knew where he stood. The false prophets knew where they stood, but many of the people were fickle. They were going along with the crowd, doing what was easy.
Elijah called them to make a choice- either serve the Lord God Jehovah with all your heart or follow the falsehood of Baals and Asherah, wood and stone. For revival to come in power, we need to come clean with the place we give the Lord in our hearts and lives. The call to commitment is to be devoted to the Lord or not. Make a commitment as to whom you will serve.
Many try to have God in their live along with other things that are not consistent with a godly heart. I am not talking about falling short, I am talking about making conscientious commitment. Many will have Jesus in their lives, but other things that go against His will and Word. Don’t think that is OK. Today choose Jesus or the world.
I talked to fellow in the Twin Cities that was into the occult practices. He told me he does white magic, not black magic. He told me he believed in God and Christ, but he will also use Ouija boards, tarot cards and séances to get direction for his life and others around him. He felt good about that, since he didn’t want to hurt anyone but help. He failed to see the inconsistency of using “spiritual” powers that the Bible calls the enemy.
Most Hindus have no problem making Jesus a god along with the cow, a monkey, a piece of stone or wood. He is one among the many gods they worship. But that is not the Jesus of the Bible. That is not the God of the Bible who declares “I will have no other gods before me.” With God there is nothing else. He is not the one among many. He is the only one to wants our hearts. A commitment has to be made. Who are you going to serve?
It is so easy to go along with the crowd. It is so easy to be uncommitted and neutral. So many want both worlds; they want to be in the world and carry on in sinful deeds and be involved with Lord as well.
We see it in the church, where homosexuals are forcing denominations to perform same sex marriages or risk losing people to churches that will. Loving people is not the same as compromised convictions. When Elijah came to Mount Carmel that day, the middle ground disappeared. He wanted to expose false gods once and for all. The contest of which “gods” would consume with fire the sacrifice was the determining factor revealing the only true God’s power.
Being a true Christian in the days ahead will be exposed by the choices we make - if Jesus is our Lord or not. It will reveal those who refuse to bow to public pressure and political correctness when it comes to faith matters. It is written in the book of Revelations- "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."
Are you committed to Christ and His teachings no matter what happens?
