“The people of Israel are as stubborn as a bull” (Hosea
4:16). This is more than the story of Israel. It’s the story of every
one of us. Resisting God’s Spirit and rebelling against God’s Word, we
dig ourselves, more and more deeply, into a hole of our own making. It
is a hole from which we cannot lift ourselves. We can only be saved by
the Lord. The stubbornness must be taken out of our hearts. Love for
Christ must be put into our hearts. It is His love which changes us. He
breaks down our stubbornness. He builds in us a new and true love for
Him.
We read about Elijah in his high-points of strength - the triumph over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:36-39) - and his low-points of weakness - he is ready to give up: “I’ve had enough now, Lord” (1 Kings 19:4). How did Elijah get into such a mess? He forgot this: “The Lord’s power was on Elijah” (1 Kings 18:46). In all life’s ups and downs, we must hold on to this: The Lord has sent His Spirit of power to live in us (2 Timothy 1:7). How are we to live in the power of the Spirit? We need to feed on the Word of God and drink in the Word of God (1 Kings 17:4). We need to pray that the Lord will send His showers of blessing (1 Kings 17:14). We are to live our life “according to the Word of the Lord” (1 Kings 17:16). For our life of faith to be strong in the Lord, we need to listen attentively to the preaching of God’s Word (1 Kings 17:24).
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