WHO WILL YOU SERVE?

 

I Kings 18:21  Then Elijah stood in front of them and said,  “How long are you going to waver between two opinions?  If the LORD is God, follow him!”  But the people were silent.

      I find it interesting that the people were silent in the midst of a challenge to follow the Lord.  As a preacher I have seen the same thing happen many times.  There are times in which you just know the Lord is near and speaking to people’s hearts, and yet, they do not heed the Lord’s call to repentance or service.  To be silent and just do nothing is in reality a rejection of God.  Perhaps one of the reasons why there are so many dissatisfied people in the church is because they had turned God away when He was near.

       So many people are wavering between two opinions; they simply cannot, or will not, make up their minds about God.  They are listening to those who would lure them away from God.  They believe with their heads but not their hearts. 

        The people of Israel had drifted so far away from God that they no longer were convinced He was God.  They were prone to follow after the false gods around them and were skeptical concerning the Lord.  God no longer mattered to them because they were willing to compromise their faith in Him.  They did not pay attention to what they needed to do in order to know that He was real and nearby.  They let slide the disciplines of faith that God had commanded them to follow.  They had neglected and rejected God and quickly embraced the false gods of their world.  Instead of proving themselves to God, they made God prove himself to them. 

     The pathway to alienation from God is so easily traveled and is traveled by so many.  It is the easy way to live.  God’s way requires much work on our part.  It requires us to let the Lord change us.  It requires us to always strive to obey Him.  It is so much easier to just not try.  But, the easy path is the path that leads to certain destruction. 

        Protect your soul from those things which would draw you away from the Lord.  Do not let your guard down.  Don’t listen to the many voices that would lure you away from God.  Don’t neglect the disciplines of faith that are so necessary to keep your soul in tune with God.  Don’t let anything silence your faith or witness.  Draw near and stay near to God and He will draw near and stay near to you