Limping Along

“. . . How long halt ye between two opinions?”  (1 Kings 18:21a)

Physical disorders can cause a limp, and you walk differently. Continual limping will eventually impair otherwise healthy parts of the body as it favors the weak area. A stubbed toe causes the foot to hurt; the favored foot causes the knee to ache, causing a hip displacement, which creates a backache. When crutches are needed, the legs are dependent on the two “sticks” under the arms. But if you lift both feet, the legs dangle—you go nowhere. In that position, the legs grow weaker and weaker. You must decide how and where to walk, step carefully, and begin walking towards your destination.

Hobbling between two opinions: If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if the god of this world is god, follow him. In your Christian walk, you must know where you stand as a believer. Areas of uncertainty leave room for weakness. Spiritual weakness can cause a limp, hobble, or standstill in decision-making. Spiritual limping, just as physical limping, has the same destructive effect and can leave you defenseless in the face of the enemy. The same is true of wavering or dangling. As you dangle with decisions of where to stand biblically, uncertainty gains a foothold, and weakness settles in. You are either for something or against it, for God or against Him.

Elijah prayed to God that day for the wayward Israelites to know the only true God. God consumed the sacrifice, wood, stones, and dust when His fire from heaven fell; even the trench filled with water around the altar was “licked up.” The people fell on their faces and proclaimed, “The Lord He is the God, the Lord He is the God” (v. 39).

Jesus said you couldn’t serve two masters simultaneously; you will be faithful to only one (Matthew 6:24). Are you hobbling between two masters? You cannot serve God and love the world simultaneously; Jesus’ words, not mine.