God’s Appeal

Text: 1 Kings 18: 20-21

We have bade farewell to 2019 with all its burdens and trials and we welcome 2020 with its prospects and promises and yet the one constant is the uncertainty of the future. How about you my friend. What effect does the brevity of life have on you? As the hymn writer says “how good is the God we adore, Our faithful unchangeable friend… we’ll praise him for all that is passed and trust him for all that’s to come.” Where is your assurance based? You have failed in your resolutions and planning. What will be different this year? What is your sure hope? Wherein lies your confidence.
There had been a famine in the land and here God sends Elijah to Ahab. Three names appear prominently in this passage Ahab Jezebel and Elijah. Ahab and Jezebel are known for their chronic wickedness and Elijah for his faithful dedication to God. Here we see God’s Appeal V21 “how long will you go on limping between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
The word limp here is a Hebrew word pasak that means to stagger, hesitate, Jagger…this hesitation or limping was the mental condition of the people of Isreal. Some were blind followers of Baal leaning on both ends, God and Baal. The people were jumping from one service to another Hoping to get favor from both Ahab and Elijah. They could not make up their minds, they lacked the inner strength to choose between right and wrong. They were deprived of the confidence to choose one to serve.
God’s appeal to you, how long will you linger between God and the world. How long will you remain undecided on the issue of salvation, how long will you put off the truth about the state of your heart?
* God’s appeal is an appeal pointed to the judgment and appointment of sinners. God is appealing to your salvation. When Elijah asked them they showed that they doubted the God of their forefathers. And the people refused to choose between Jehovah and Baal they wanted to retain both positions. The word skeptic is derived from the Hebrew word for limping. Here was a nation that made a decision by blind obedience. Forgetting the God who has been with their forefathers. Matthew 6:24 1 Cor 18:21 the words serve and follow from both verses represent total dedication. You cannot show slave-like obedience to two Master’s unless they are agreed. These two Masters have nothing in common, one is light the other darkness. You cannot have both heavenly joys and worldly pleasures.A rebuke also to Christians, when we live our lives like we are in the world we confuse the world on what Christians should be like. Make a decision this year to live lives dedicated to the service of God.
* An appeal that demands a quick and immediate response from sinners. V36-37 Elijah here pleads for the Lord’s grace on these people. That he may turn their hearts back to Himself. These have no ability within themselves to turn their own heart’s to God but you alone God have the power. You are here and have not considered the urgency to attain salvation. The brevity of life has not struck your mind, and the opportunities you’ve rejected of salvation. How long will you hesitate in seeking true and lasting joy. The joy that can compare with the heavenly joy. Life outside Christ is full of pleasures that don’t last. How long will you stagger between two opinions? Life is full of uncertainty you might say you are still young and you keep ignoring the importance of salvation. You cannot serve two Master’s, this world is like a big hotel that we check in today and tomorrow we are gone. Oh, that we may cling to worlds beyond this one.