Make your decision for Christ
Friends in the Lord, today in the first reading, we see that the people of those days were lukewarm, fickle. At times they would be faithful to God, other times they would follow the pagan ways, giving their worship to the false god called ‘Baal.’
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Elijah says to them: “How long will you straddle the issue? If the LORD is God, follow him; if Baal, follow him.” This calls to mind the words of Jesus, who says: ‘let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ We cannot be a disciple of Christ in a half-hearted manner. It doesn’t work. In our minds, we know this to be true. God is all Good, All Powerful, All knowing, Infinite Love – to Him therefore, as creatures, we owe our whole self.
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The people, hearing this from Elijah could feel the force of his logic: If the LORD is God, then follow him!, he says. They heard this, but they could say nothing. They were speechless, because they wanted it both ways. They wanted somehow to unite their worship of God with that of Baal; they wanted to be able to say that they were still Jews, yet enjoy the ways of the Baals, which were certainly sensuous and impure. We might say, they wanted to say they are Catholics, yet indulge in the lusts and vanities and pride of the world.
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Well, God inspired Elijah to challenge those 450 prophets of Baal. Two young bulls were obtained for sacrifice, they were placed on altars. Baal was supposed to be the god of fire, and so Elijah told them: call on Baal, to consume your sacrifice with fire. They prayed and called and nothing happened. Over and over they tried. But nothing happened – no fire to consume the sacrifice.
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Then Elijah not only prepares his own sacrifice, but pours water over it, again and again – he soaks it. Then calling on the True God, fire comes down and consumes the sacrifice. The people declare, ‘The Lord is God, the Lord is God.’ Then Elijah commanded, “Seize the prophets of Baal. And they seized them, and Elijah took them to the Kishon Valley and slew them.
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We ourselves, daily, must declare, the Lord is God. Jesus Christ is Lord of our life, no other. And then, all those temptations and demons that pull us from God? We must slay them.
