“For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone” (Ps. 86:10).
God does not force people to believe Him and obey Him. People can choose to turn away from Him. But they will have problems when they do that.
The Israelites were God’s special people. But they were ignoring God and disobeying His commands. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” God had said. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” He also said. But the people began worshiping false gods anyway. God wanted them to come back to Him. He called on His prophet Elijah to show the people they were doing wrong.
Elijah went to Ahab, the king of Israel. He challenged the king to have his wicked prophets meet Elijah in a contest.
“Tell your prophets to build an altar to their god,” Elijah said. “Have them put wood on it and a bull for their sacrifice. But don’t put any fire under the altar. I will do the same with an altar to the Lord.”
“You call on your god. I will call on my God. The one who answers by fire will be declared the true God.” The king and his prophets agreed to the contest.
The false prophets called on their god, Baal, for a whole day. But nothing happened. No fire came down to burn their sacrifice.
Then Elijah prepared the altar to the true God. He put wood on the altar. He put a bull on the wood. He covered everything with water. Then Elijah began to pray out loud. “God, let everybody here today know that You are God. Turn their hearts back to You.”
When Elijah finished praying, fire came roaring down from Heaven. This fire from the true God burned up Elijah’s sacrifice. It burned up even the stones of the altar, the dust on the ground, and every drop of water.
The people fell on their faces and declared, “The Lord, He is God!”
The Lord proved that day that He is the only God worth trusting.
My response:
» Do I believe in the Lord in worship Him alone?
» What can I do to share my faith in God with others?