And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. — 1 Kings 18:21
There are a lot of divisions in our world today. We see division being driven by political parties, social status, and even into the areas of religion. We see religious groups that want to divide more than they want to share the faith and love of Christ. Religious leaders are pandering to special interest groups and sin which goes directly against the word of God.
It is a dangerous place to be when you are stuck between God and other idols that might take the place of God. That is exactly what these leaders are doing. They are putting other things in the place of God. That’s exactly what we see in the Scripture where Elijah asked the people of the day, “how long halt ye between two opinions?”
Elijah told the people it was time to get behind something fully. Either you are fully behind God, or you are fully behind the idols. There is no middle ground when it comes to the things of God. We are being torn between the things of God and the things of this world.
Just like the people were asked the question, we too must answer how long we are going to be torn between two opinions. If God is really God and we are truly followers of God, we must put God first and follow Him. The story for Elijah did not stop there.
The people did not answer Elijah, and we find that the verses go on to where God proves Himself to the people through consuming the sacrifice on the altar. Do we really need God to prove Himself to us? For years, He has proved time and again that He is God. Instead of needing proof, we need to speak out and take a stand once again for the things of God.
We cannot continue to be divided between right and wrong, good and evil, God and idols. We need God to be first in our lives, our homes, and our nation. How long will we stay stuck in the middle before we choose God once again?