Christian Devotional – August 20, 2019

Respect. Elijah didn’t feel it and it resulted in fire from heaven. Read 2 Kings 1:9-10.

Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. And he said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.'” Elijah replied to the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
2 Kings 1:9‭-‬10 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/2ki.1.9-10.NASB

Elijah wasn’t intrested in the captain respecting him, himself. The concern was that the captain didn’t respect God. The captain shows up, sees Elijah sitting there, calls him a man of God, and yet gives him a command from the king expecting him to follow the king ahead of God. He is a man of God, but the captain is thinking, “Well he must obey the king.” No. Elijah obeys God. Because of this, Elijah calls down fire from heaven, which by the way he’s a done before, and God approves and burns up the entire company.

Do we respect God? This can be easy to say that we do, but our actions and the words we say should also reflect that. Do we say we believe God, but then follow the authority of others? Elijah was singly focused on what does God wants and when does God want it. Elijah had learned his lesson from prior circumstances, and he wasn’t about to move until God told him to. What about us? Are we supposed to move today? Or, should we stop moving because God hasn’t told us to. Do we respect God as the ultimate source of knowledge and direction in our day-to-day life? Do we show Him that respect?