Yesterday morning, I read the powerful story where the Old Testament prophet Elijah has a crazy spiritual showdown with four hundred prophets of Baal (you can read the story in 1 Kings 18 ).
The big question at stake was this – which god are you going to follow?
God (Yahweh) or Baal?
Here’s how Elijah puts it in verse 21…
Elijah challenged the people: “How long are you going to sit on the fence? If God is the real God, follow him; if it’s Baal, follow him. Make up your minds!” Nobody said a word; nobody made a move. (The Message)
You’ll have to read the story to see what happens next. Let’s just say things get lively!
Now, I’m pretty sure that none of us has a problem with Baal worship, but there are far more subtle ‘gods’ at work in our 21st-century society that can draw our attention away from the One true God, revealed in Jesus. Money? Jobs? Looks? Possessions? Achievements? Relationships? Hobbies? Education?
Jesus is looking to be in the pole position of our lives, but I imagine most of us (all of us?) can be easily distracted by things that relegate him further down the chain of our priorities.
But sitting on the fence when it comes to God vs the distractions will result in more than just a numb bum! We can become numb to the love and leadership of Jesus in our lives – missing out on His beautiful best for our lives, and falling short of the life He created us for.
The turbulent journey of the past two years or so has understandably resulted in reset practices and habits in our lives but, as we step into God’s new vision for Zeo, is this a moment to reset around Jesus being number one?
When I was growing up there was a provocative question doing the rounds in Christian circles – If you were on trial for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?
What is the evidence that we’re not on the fence but have completely thrown ourselves into the priority of following Christ?
The story of the early church, told in the New Testament book of Acts, reveals a church that was passionately, committed to ‘gathering’ and ‘going’. Gathering together in the temple and homes, and going into the world being good news.
It’s no surprise, that’s exactly what God has called us to do in Zeo. Are you in? Will you and I prioritise the gathering and the going? For our sake, and the sake of the world for which Christ died?
