Faithful Friday Faves: 1 Kings

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Do you see the scene in your imagination? It's the time of the evening sacrifice; the people had been standing around all day watching the priests of Baal throw themselves into a frenzy around a hacked-up bull on a pile of wood, but the only thing that had fallen on the sacrifice was no doubt a cloud of flies.

Then Elijah steps out and rebuilds the ancient altar, each stone a representation of the people who stood in front of him. He lays the wood, cuts up the bull and arranges it, then does something truly unexpected...he digs a trench around the altar and calls for water.

It's amazing that they managed to find 12 large jars of water in that prolonged drought, but the water came from somewhere and the sacrifice, the wood, the altar, and the ground were all drenched and the trench was full. Then Elijah stepped forward and prayed.

Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, 'The LORD, he is God! The LORD - he is God! - 1 Kings 18:38 - 39.

Would you have liked to have been there that day? I would've...every time I read one of the stories about God manifesting Himself to his people this way I get all chill bumpy. Can you imagine? Seeing something like that?

I've often wondered, 'God, why don't You manifest Yourself again to us? Show everyone that You're real?'

You know what the answer is?

He put *us* here to represent Him. To be the ones who manifest His presence everywhere we go.

What if everyone who calls him/herself a follower of Christ really and truly represented the heart of God on earth?

I honestly think it would be every bit as big a shock to the unbelieving world as the fire that incinerated Elijah's altar.
Imagine THAT...