“How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (I Kings 18:21).

The above question was posed by the Prophet Elijah to all the leaders of Israel. It’s hard to imagine a more devastating question posed to a rebellious king and his people. Yet the question needed to be asked. Immediately following his question, Elijah summoned all the priests of Baal to the top of Mount Carmel, where the Lord showed the entire nation and its leaders that he was the true God, not the image of Baal they had been worshipping. God took extraordinary means to prove himself to his people.

As I have considered Elijah’s question, it struck me that what he asked many centuries ago is equally relevant in our day. Let me explain. There is barely a week that passes without my interacting with someone who seems to be “limping between two opinions.” In our day, the two competing opinions may not be the Lord God and Baal, but rather between following Christ or embracing the values and mindset of the world. There is a sense in which we all are dealing with “two different opinions.” The question is not whether they exist, but rather which one we follow.

Now as I have thought about Elijah’s question, there is one word that struck me. It’s the word “limping.” I think the prophet used that word for a specific purpose. In the original language, the word means to be lame or to move in a halting manner. Thus, there is something unhealthy about the individual who seeks to entertain Christ and the world at the same time. Walking the line between Christ and the world makes one unhealthy and halting. Jesus put it another way when he said that a man cannot serve two masters. It’s the same idea.  

Here now is where this applies to each of us on a day in and day out basis. I am certain that if we were totally honest, each of us could identify areas in our lives where we are not following Christ as closely as we know we should. We’ve made compromises of one sort and to one degree or another. It’s our everyday battle, the never-ending contrast between our old nature and our new. Yet Elijah framed it for what it is. We say we love Christ, but do we live accordingly? Do we limp along as Christians because we are drawn by the lame allure of the world? 

What I find quite interesting is how the people responded to his question. The end of verse 21 reads, “And the people did not answer him a word.” They knew they were wrong. They had no answer. They knew that Baal had consumed them, not the Lord God. They were speechless. Are you? Are you limping along as a Christian because you are seeking to entertain two “opinions” - the Lord’s and Baal?

“What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?” (Isaiah 5:4)

In the above verse, God through the prophet Isaiah asked each of us as Christians a very important question. What he asked is this: “I have blessed you in every imaginable way; what else can I do for you to show you my love?” Later in the same verse he said, “When I looked for it (my vineyard—the people of Israel) to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?”        

The Apostle Paul put it another way when he said in the first chapter of Ephesians, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Do you see it? There is literally nothing more God can do for us than what he has already done in sending Christ to the cross.        

Let me show you what Paul told the Colossian believers regarding what the cross brought to them. He said that they were “delivered from the domain of darkness, transferred to the kingdom of light, redeemed, forgiven, reconciled to God, presented holy and blameless before God, firmly rooted and grounded in him, built up in him, made complete in him, buried with him in baptism, and made alive in him, having the certificate of death cancelled.” Can you think of anything that is left out of the list of incredible things God has done for us?        

Paul went on to pray that the Colossians would “be filled with the knowledge of his will, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bear fruit in good works, increase in the knowledge of God, receive strength with all power, and attain to all steadfastness.” I think it is clear that when God does something, he goes all the way and leaves nothing undone.       

How does this apply in our day? I speak regularly with Christians who struggle in various areas of life; and in some measure, they struggle because they are not familiar with all that God has already done for them, and lack thankfulness for his actions on their part. Can you imagine how different our lives would be if we lived in light of what God has already accomplished on our behalf, as well as if we demonstrated a continual spirit of thankfulness? We would focus on his greatness as opposed to our weakness, on his glory and not our sin, on his power and not our fear, on his sovereignty and not our selfishness, on his purposes and not our pride, on his security and not our uncertainties. A life that focuses on the cross represents a life that is lived above the trivial things that sap our vitality for Christ and his kingdom. Such a life is a continual concert of thanksgiving for God’s goodness and blessings.      

When we understand that all the purposes of God were realized in his Son Jesus Christ, and we live in light of his sufficiency in every area of life, we can answer Isaiah’s question with one word. “What more was there for me to do for you?”        

Nothing; absolutely nothing. Thank you, God for your indescribable gift!

“Do not take to heart all the things that people say. Your heart knows that many times you have yourself cursed others” (Ecclesiastes 7:21).

I think you would agree that there are words that heal, as well as words that wound. Each of us has been on the receiving end of both. Yet the funny thing is, at least this is my observation, we tend to have a shorter memory for healing words than we do for wounding words. Sadly, I think we are wired that way.

One of my most frequent conversations with people centers on words that resulted in pain, confusion, anger, or feelings of rejection. We all know how devastating words can be. The Apostle James put it well when he wrote, “So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell” (James 3:5-6).

Now with those thoughts in mind, I want you to consider what characterizes the bulk and content of your words. Do your words heal or wound? I often find myself speaking words that are not as healing as I might like them to be. My guess is that it’s the same for you. So what can we do about it?

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is to ask the Lord to help us monitor what’s in our hearts, because whatever dominates our hearts will eventually flow out of our mouths. That is to say that our words are a fairly accurate barometer of our hearts. So if you find yourself speaking wounding words, the first thing to do is to check your heart. Be open and honest before the Lord, asking him to heal your attitude, thereby enabling you to speak healing words. 

The second thing that comes to mind after checking our hearts is to check our humility. I think you would agree that in many instances wounding words are fueled by selfishness (motivated by pride). When we criticize, condemn, judge or in some other way speak ill of someone, are we not generally speaking out of a spirit of superiority which reflects pride on our part?

Then finally (this may be the hardest part) if need be, go to someone you have wounded recently with your words and ask for forgiveness. Conversely, if someone asks your forgiveness for wounding words spoken against you, forgive them without reservation. If God readily forgives us, why would we hesitate to be equally quick to forgive others? My goal this week is to grow in my desire and ability to speak words that heal, not wound. And further, in Solomon’s own words I plan to “not take to heart all the things that people say.”  Sound advice, would you agree?

“And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go well with him through the days of his life that God has given him…” (Ecclesiastes 8:15).

Joy is an elusive commodity in our day. The primary reason is that most people pursue happiness in place of joy. It only makes sense that pursuing the wrong thing generally brings the wrong outcome. In that light, it is crucial to understand that joy and happiness are not the same things. Happiness can be fleeting, shallow and man-made. True joy on the other hand is substantial, deep, and flows ultimately from God. 

Now the word joy is found 179 times in the Bible. As it relates to the use of the word in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul incorporated the word into many of his letters. But what’s interesting is that most of the times he used the word, he linked it with something related to God. In various places, Paul linked joy with prayer, faith, the Holy Spirit, hope, glory, love and thanksgiving. I think there is a lesson in that for all of us to consider, especially in light of what King Solomon wrote about joy in the verse cited above. 

I believe the truth that Solomon wished to get across, in combination with the way the Apostle Paul used the word, is this: joy must be pursued. And further, it’s possible to possess joy throughout life because ultimately joy is not found in the shallow pursuit of happiness, but rather in the deep and lasting person of God. Simply put, lifelong joy is found in a lifelong pursuit of God. 

In that light, let me ask you to consider what you are presently looking to for joy? If you are seeking joy in the absence of trials or challenges, in the possession of things, or in fleeting pleasures, you are destined to fail. You see, according to Solomon, happiness departs, but joy endures. 

Listen again to Solomon’s words: “Man has no good thing under the sun but to be joyful.” It’s hard to miss his point. We are built by God to pursue joy. He intends for us to pursue joy. It is his will and desire that we be joyful through all the days of our lives. Nothing else matters; nothing else lasts. Nothing else satisfies the craving of our hearts that God built into us. 

So the question for all of us is this. Are we pursuing joy in our pursuit of God? If so, we are destined to find it because God wants us to be joyful. He commends us to joy all the days of our lives. However, if we are pursuing happiness instead of joy, we are destined to be disappointed. God has given us life; and further, God has given us a worthy pursuit, joy. Find it in him and nothing else. You won’t be disappointed because God guarantees it!

“Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me” (Psalm 119:133).

I wonder if you have ever considered how many times the Lord has acted in a manner that has prevented you from sinning against him. I’ve come to the place of seeing that God is so interested in the testimony of our lives that he will act to remove us from situations and circumstances that increase the potential for bad choices on our part. We may sense it at the moment, or come to realize it at a later date. Yes, God intervenes at times to keep us from sinning.

Now with that thought in mind, pay attention to the words of the psalmist. He made two direct requests. First he asked the Lord to “steady” his steps. The word “steady” means to fix, establish or arrange. Thus the psalmist is asking that the Lord arrange his steps so that he might walk aright. Further, note the words “iniquity” and “dominion.” Iniquity refers to wickedness; dominion refers to mastery. The psalmist is asking that wickedness not have mastery over him. So with all of that as background, the question arises, how does this apply to you and to me?

I think the answer to that is relatively simple. Do you build into your regular prayer time specific requests that the Lord arrange your steps so that you do not become mastered by wickedness? If the psalmist prayed it, why would we not do the same? That thought leads me to wonder the degree to which my life might better reflect the abiding presence of Christ if I had prayed in that manner.

Here is what I suggest you do in light of Psalm 119:133. First, ask God to identify (my guess is that you already know) areas in your life that grieve him. Be transparent and willing to listen as the Holy Spirit brings these things to mind for you. Then ask God to not only give you the desire, but the strength to avoid that which you know to be wrong. Finally, as you sense his power to flee from sin, ask him to be intentional and active in preventing you from going back there.

I know of no other way to break free from destructive patterns of behavior that we know to be wrong. Being mastered by wickedness is not a good thing. Steady and established steps are needed to break free from such patterns of living.

There is one last thing to consider as you incorporate such praying into your routine. Expect results! You see, if godly living glorifies God, and we pray for the resources to live in a Godly manner, then in essence we are praying that our lives glorify God. And further, if what is most important to God is his glory, then we should expect his power, thereby enabling us to possess steady steps accompanied by freedom from iniquity. Isn’t it wonderful to know that God commands what he wills and wills what he commands?