09.21.2025 | Elijah Confronted Ahab
1 Kings 18-19
In 1975, the world was introduced to the Pepsi Challenge. As part of their advertising campaign, Pepsi set up blind taste tests in supermarkets where participants sipped from two cups—one containing Pepsi and one containing Coca-Cola. Not knowing which soda was in each cup, the participant would choose the drink they liked most. Interestingly, most of the participants chose the sweeter taste of Pepsi, but Coca-Cola continued to be the more popular and better selling brand.
In Scripture, God invites people to a spiritual taste test. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” There is no one like God. As we read the Bible and see His power, His wisdom, and His love, we can worship Him because there is nothing as great as Him!
This week’s story from the Bible also involves a test—one that the prophet Elijah issued to false prophets who worshiped idols. Elijah wanted to show the people who the one true God is. As hard has the false prophets tried to show the power of their gods, no one answered their prayers. When Elijah called on the true God, however, the Lord sent fire from the sky that consumed the sacrifice, the wet wood on the altar, and even the dust around it! There was no doubt that He is the one true God!
God sent fire down from heaven to prove that He alone is Lord. God sent the Holy Spirit like flames of fire on Jesus’ disciples to empower them to tell others that Jesus is God’s Son who saves people from sin.
