Choosing a Horse

“‘How long will your waver between two opinions?  If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’  But the people said nothing.” 1 Kings 18:21.

Years ago Bruce and I were trying to make a decision about the direction in which to go regarding his employment.  He had resigned from Duke Power and his choices were either to go to work for another company or begin his own company.  It was a tough decision and there were many pros and cons for each.  We went up to the mountains so he could gain some wisdom from his dad.  I can still remember sitting at the table listening to them go back and forth about which direction to take.  Finally, after much debate, my father-in-law looked at my husband, and said, ‘Son, you just need to choose a horse and ride it.’  It was one of the wisest statements I’ve heard and still it comes to mind in the right situation.  Bruce did choose a horse and gave it everything he had and God has blessed us for sure.

Elijah found himself centuries ago giving his audience the same wisdom.  As progressive as we would like to think our world is in reality we are no different than the people with divided hearts found in 1 Kings thousands of years ago.  Elijah found himself frustrated for people to really step up, not just to give lip service for God but to stand up for God.  He implores them to quit wavering between the way of God and the way of the world.  He begs them to set themselves apart and then ‘ride that horse’ with everything they have.  We are faced daily with decisions to accept the world’s way or to stand up for God’s way.  We cannot just say that the Lord is God but to truly show the world upon which horse we are mounted, we must follow Him.  What does this look like in today’s world?  It means that we must give grace when it is undeserved.  It means that we must forgive when we have been wounded.  It means that we must give up our comfort and resources to work for the benefit of someone less fortunate.  It means that when God asks us to take a stand we obey.  We cannot be silent like the people in our passage for silence is taking a stand...a stand for the flesh of the world.  There are two types of flesh between which we must choose – the flesh wrapped in swaddling clothes or the flesh of the world.

Like my grandmother used to say “God is the God of everything or He is the god of nothing.”