And the people did not answer him a word.

1 Kings 18:7

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal then follow him”.  And the people did not answer him a word.

At the end of the day, it is this simple choice that defines your life.  Either the Lord is God, or something else in your life is going to be.  We are made for this choice.  We are made for this decision.  We spend so much time philosophing, mystifying, ignoring, or weighing this decision.   For most of us, we rarely ever think we answer it.  We stand just like the people of Baal, at the alter waiting to see the next piece of evidence that will be brought into the courtroom in order to make an “educated, calculated” decision.  The shocking thing to most of us is the realization that we are not the Lord’s jury.  We have not been created to sit as his jury, waiting to decide His sentence of “True God” or “Not the True God”.  Our decision changes nothing in God, but changes everything in us.  God is not dependent upon our decision, our beliefs, our judgment, but we on the contrary are completely dependent upon His.   

            I recently read, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan.  Chan pointed out that I am not the main character of this life that I live.  In the beginning of time when the world was being created, my name was never mentioned.  When the floodwater spread over the earth and then receded, my name was not in ink.  When WWI and WWII were brutally played out across the world, my name did not exist.  At the end of time when the battle is over, I will not be sitting on any thrones.  I am not the main character in this story.  I am an extra.  As Chan points out, I could choose to rent out an entire theater and invite all of my friends to come watch my 10 seconds of fame on the big screen (and they would think I was crazy), but not even my mom would really care for long.  Our lives are split seconds in the big movie.  But in our American culture, which teaches us that ME is the most important, this concept is not only hard but seems almost ridiculous.  Isn’t this life about my happiness, my feelings, my wants, dreams, and goals?  I have one life to live, and it’s all about ME.  Right? Wrong.

            This life is simply about your choice.  If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal then follow him.