1 Kings 18:34-35 “34 And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.”
PRECIOUS LIQUID
The story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal has been told over and over again. You have probably read about it in Sunday School or heard sermons on it. But many miss this part. There was a drought. It hadn’t rained in 3 years. I saw that last year when I was in Kenya. I was in an area that had not seen any kind of significant rainfall in 3 years. People were dying. Livestock was dying. Crops wouldn’t grow. People had to leave their homes and move to find water. It was horrible.
And here in this story we find Elijah taking something precious, something all the people would consider valuable, and pouring it on the altar. I bet all those people were thinking, “Go ahead and kill the sacrifice. The animal is going to die anyway. But don’t waste the water. Think how many people could use it.”
TEACHING MOMENT
Our children need to learn that there is NOTHING too valuable to give up for God. He wants us to be totally sold out to Him in everything. If your children become too attached to something, we need to help them lay it down. Things in this life don’t matter. Only total abandonment to the Lord does.
But how can they learn that unless they see it in us first. What do you hold “dear.” It may be the very children you are trying to teach. Give them up to God. You are only the caretaker of this precious cargo anyway. They belong to God. Lay them on the altar, figuratively.
Elijah wanted to make sure the people saw that the fire which consumed the altar wasn’t man-made. No man could have lit a sacrifice doused in that much water. And don’t miss that even the water in the trough around the altar was consumed. The precious liquid was consumed by the Lord.
A Moment In Time 