When Elijah battled the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18), the LORD was determined to prove He alone was the one true God. “You call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD,” Elijah proposed; “whoever answers by fire, He is the true God.”

Baal’s prophets prepared an offering, but their god failed to respond to their pleas. So Elijah prepared an offering for his LORD, and then demanded it be drenched with water. When the water began to run down around the altar, Elijah bowed before God asking two things: “Let it be known that You are God, and turn the hearts of the people back to You.”

Fire fell from heaven, consuming the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and even the water that ran around the altar. As a result, the Israelites cried, “The LORD, He is God!”

Why did Elijah pour water on the altar? To ensure that God’s people would recognize the LORD as the only true God. God used that water to turn straying hearts back to Him.

Christian pastor and author John Piper wrote,

“The main reason God has given us minds is that we might seek out and find all the reasons that exist for treasuring him in all things and above all things. He created the world so that through it and above it we might treasure him.”

Here is a New Year’s resolution worth making (and keeping):

In this year, 2011, I will intentionally seek the one true God; I will seek the God Who is.

May God bless you to know Him and love Him — to treasure Him — more and more throughout the coming year.

Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, LORD, do I seek.”
(Psalm 27:7-8)