A WORD FOR TODAY, March 15, 2021
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, March 15, 2021
“For this commandment which I command you today is not too hard for you or too distant. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up for us to heaven, bring it to us, and proclaim it to us, that we may do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us, bring it to us, and proclaim it to us, that we may do it?’ But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil. For I command you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away and worship other gods, and serve them, I declare to you today that you will surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants, to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:11-20, WEB
The question for today comes from the story of Elijah when he fought against Ahab, the king of Israel. The land had been in drought, prophesied by Elijah in 1 Kings 17. After three years, the LORD sent Elijah to meet with Ahab. Ahab blamed Elijah for the drought, but Elijah told him and all Israel that God sent the drought because they had abandoned God’s commandments and turned to false gods. Elijah addressed the people, “Elijah came near to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ The people didn’t say a word.” (1 Kings 18:21, WEB)
I teach an adult Sunday school class, and over the past few years we’ve studied the Gospel of John, Revelation, the Sermon on the Mount, the Psalms, and the Didache. We have found a common theme throughout all these books, a theme found repeatedly throughout the scriptures: the Two Ways. The Bible comes down to a choice: God or any other path. Who will you choose?
The problem with the people of Israel, and every human from the beginning of time, is that we want to have our cake and eat it too. We want to cover our bases. Sure, it is good to believe in God, but I want to have some back-up. The Israelites knew God and believed in Him, but they didn’t think it would hurt to believe in the gods of their neighbors. Baal could pick up the slack. Why bother God with everything? This turning to back-up happened in other ways besides worshiping the false gods. The Patriarchs followed their own wisdom rather than that of God. The kings sought help from the armies of her neighbors to save them from their enemies. The early Christians conformed to the ways of the world. We’ve all learned that anything that turns us from complete and absolute trust in the Lord God Almighty is an idol or a god to us.
The Didache is one of the earliest catechisms, written in the very earliest days of the Christian church, perhaps even before some of the New Testament texts. There are echoes in that document that parallel some of the most beloved statements of the Bible. The Didache begins, “There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, your neighbor as yourself; and all things whatsoever you would should not occur to you, do not also do to another.” It goes on to describe the two ways, the way that follows God and the way that doesn’t.
The Book of Proverbs is filled with this choice between the two ways. Do we walk in the way of the wicked or the righteous? Do we walk in wisdom or folly? Do we stand with the sinners or the saints? Unfortunately, most of us vacillate, or as Elijah says, “How long will you waver between the two sides?” How long will we believe in God, but trust in ourselves, in the strength of others, in the ways of the world?
God made it very clear the day Elijah met with Ahab and the people of Israel that day. Elijah told the prophets of Baal to prepare a sacrifice and that he would do the same. Neither would light the fire. “You call on the name of your god, and I will call on Yahweh’s name. The God who answers by fire, let him be God.” They agreed. They prayed for hours, but they received no response from their god. Then Elijah built an altar of stone, dug a trench around it, filled the trench with water, and soaked everything until it would never catch fire. Then he called to God. “Prove yourself to these people that they might believe in you alone!” God answered with a fire that consumed it all, even the dust of the earth. The people fell on their faces and cried out to their God.
Unfortunately, such passionate faith is short-lived. God’s people turned from Him over and over again, and we continue to do the same today. “How long will you waver between the two sides?” is a very appropriate question for us to ask during this season of Lent, as we consider our own sinfulness, repent, and seek God’s grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. What path are you taking? What way are you going? Do not waver, but chose God’s way and you will be blessed. Choose life and you will live in God’s Kingdom from this day and forevermore.
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