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Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Meditation
I Kings 18:20-39

An old reconstructed altar, twelve stones, wood, a bull cut in pieces, all doused with twelve large jars of water. Elijah certainly knew how to be dramatic, didn’t he? But really, he was only doing what God had told him to do (1 Kings 18:36). So the logical question is, Why would God give Elijah such bizarre commands? Wouldn’t it have been enough for him just to set the bull on fire? Was God really trying to prove himself?

Unlike us—especially in our more insecure moments—God didn’t need to prove who he was. Rather, he wanted to show how extravagant his love is for his people. He wanted this amazing feat to show the people that he can overcome anything, even a sopping wet bull and waterlogged wood.

Notice how after he made the sacrifice as flame resistant as possible, he prayed, “Answer me, O Lord, so this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back” (1 Kings 18:37). Yes, God longed to turn the people’s hearts back to him. He wanted to shatter any doubt. More than showing that he is the true God, he wanted his people to know he was completely committed to them. He wanted them to know that his love had not diminished in the least, even after his people had run after false gods.

God has not changed in his love or in his desire to show himself to us. Imagine yourself to be the sacrifice on the altar. We may have given our lives to him, but our weaknesses and sins may feel like water, drenching the wood and making it impervious to the fire of his love. Nothing is impossible for God! Nothing is greater than his abundant love for us. Just as the fire he sent down consumed everything—even the stones and every drop of water—he has placed his Holy Spirit inside us to consume us with his love and presence. God isn’t hidden from us after all! What great trust and confidence we can have in him because his heart is always turned toward us!

“Father, I praise you for your overflowing, all-consuming love! I praise you for your unquenchable desire to set my heart on fire. Lord, you truly are wonderful!”