Read: 1 Kings 18:20-40; Galatians 5:22-26
What comes to mind when I speak of a good cup of coffee? If you enjoy coffee, you might think of a rich mug filled with aromatic dark liquid. Brimming with flavor, but not bitter. What most likely doesn't pop into your thoughts is a cup of coffee that tastes a bit off and has a few grounds at the bottom. I have been experiencing that from time to time lately along with another fairly unpleasant phenomenon. When the coffee maker has stopped dripping, the basket is still sometimes filled with water and coffee grounds that are unceremoniously floating around in the liquid. I thought that I needed to be extra careful when I poured the water into the coffee maker. No help there. The filter still sometimes collapsed in the basket. Not to be deterred, I looked for possible solutions on the computer. Aha. I could wet the top edge of the filter, and that might allay the problem. I didn't have much confidence in this fix when even a few drops of water applied to the edges caused the filter to deteriorate. In the end, I had to admit it. My "good deal" on filters wasn't good at all! I had to make a better choice and dump the useless ones in the trash.
There are lots of choices like coffee filters and many other every-day decisions. Some are truly important, but today's scriptures are a reminder of the one choice that trumps all others. It is choosing to build a relationship with Almighty God on His terms not our own. It is turning our backs on what or whom we have previously relied. In short, it is making a choice to put our trust in the only reliable One Whose word is wholly true, Psalm 12:6. The One Who cannot lie, Numbers 23:19.
Let's begin by looking into an incident from Elijah's life. It is found in 1 Kings 18:20-40. these verses picture this vital choice and a time when God's people once again, chose to follow Him rather than the "so-called gods" whom they had been serving. When we pick up the story in these verses, it hadn't rained in Israel for three years. Their wicked king Ahab blamed God's man Elijah for Israel's hard times, but Elijah faced the king and boldly told him the truth. He was the one who was wicked. Along with the false prophets who spoke lies to the people, and it was time for the people to make a choice. Would they worship the false god Baal, or would they return to the Living God Who had made covenants with them.
It was decided that there would be an offering made to Almighty God and Baal. The God whose offering was consumed by fire that no man lit would show Himself to be the true God. The false prophets went first. Dancing and calling out and slashing themselves to get the attention of their god. All their antics brought no response. Elijah was not a politically correct prophet; so, he mocked the so-called god Baal. Saying that perhaps he was in the bathroom or napping. Telling them to cry out louder because he might not be able to hear them. Nothing happened. Enter Elijah. He had men bring water to wet down the sacrifice and the trench that was around it. Then he called out to the Living God. Desiring that all would know that He is the God in Israel and that He was turning the hearts of His people back to Him. God did a miracle. The offering and the water was consumed by the fire He alone produced. The results? God's people made the right choice. They stopped trying to live on both sides of the fence, and they finally made the vital choice.
What about us? Most who will read this little devotion have made the vital choice to receive Jesus, John 1:11-12. Thankfully, this most precious of all choices is merely the beginning. It is like a tightly closed rose that has the opportunity to open and display all of its beauty. That is what the Holy Spirit does in our lives as we keep in step with Him, Galatians 5:22-26. The beauty of Jesus slowly is seen in us as we put to death the natural actions and reactions and choose instead to rely on the leading of the Spirit. Day by day and choice by choice He changes us on the outside having made us new in our inner man, 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Sometimes, we choose our old way of thinking. The beautiful thing about walking with Jesus is that we can restore the sweetness of our fellowship with Him by admitting that we have sinned and turning away from it, 1 John 1:9. The choice to do that keeps us back in step with Him, and we continue to change from glory to glory, 2 Corinthians 3:18.
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