READING: 1 Kings 18-20
This verse is for me one of the saddest verses in the Bible: “So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, ‘Baal, answer us!’ But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made” (1 Kgs 18:26, italics added). The prophets of Baal had agreed to take on Elijah and his God in a contest around the altar, and they had done their best to invoke their god to intervene.
For hours, even. They shouted, cut themselves with knives and spears until they were bleeding, and kept pleading . . . “but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention” (1 Kgs 18:28, italics added). In a frenzy they sought their god, and in silence he responded (or more specifically, did not respond). All their religious efforts were for nought because they sought a god who did not exist.
And, that’s the same case for so many people around the world who do not know the true God.
It’s all sad . . . . but it also compels us to the work of missions. We should long for the nations chasing after false gods to meet the true God.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Do you ever give attention to “gods” in your life that are not gods at all?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, help me to worship You and You alone today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 1 Kings 21-22