Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Kings 18:27 (New Living Translation)

About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”

Not quite.

Note how Elijah describes the false god Baal. Baal perhaps is sitting on the toilet daydreaming or fell asleep and need a wake up call. Hmm. Some god. People talked about gods that way in the day of Elijah. Sometimes people talk about gods in that way today.

The gods are basically human, like us. On top of that, or under that, the gods are pretty crummy humans—in the bathroom or napping on the couch. Not much of a god. Not much to get excited about.

God’s people didn’t talk about Him that way. The nations around God’s people didn’t talk about Him that way, either. How do we consider God today? How do I consider God?