1 Kings 18:22 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Elijah famously challenged Ahab and the people to a duel between Yahweh and Baal. They would set up two altars, and each side ask their god to send down fire on their altar. Whichever one sent fire would be the true God. The prophets of Baal prayed for hours and nothing happened. Elijah prayed once and fire came down from heaven immediately and consumed the offering, the altar, and the water poured on and around it. This dramatic event should have proved once and for all which was the true God and which was the no god. Of course, it didn’t happen that way: Ahab remained resistant, even belligerent, seeking Elijah’s life.
Elijah put his finger on the main issue. It was not the worship of one god or the other; it was trying to hold on to both at the same time, “halting between two opinions.” The problem was not worshipping Baal instead of the Lord; it was worshipping Baal alongside the one true God. Having both causes one to halt, limp, falter, and stumble along with two beliefs. It’s God or Mammon, not both.
This is a real and present danger for us in our lives as well. We will constantly be struggling between the Lord we believe in and the sin, the self, and the world we follow when tempted. Living two incompatible lives causes us to limp. The satisfied, contented life walks strong by the words “worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” Living out the “One thing needful” is difficult, even impossible, for sinners. We need daily and weekly reminders of Sin and Grace.