How Many Gods Do You Need?

When my grandson was in second grade they studied the gods of Olympus–the Greek gods–all twelve of them. When asked what interested him the most about that culture my grandson answered, “That they had so many gods.” They had a specific god for every area of life: the sky, marriage, the sea, agriculture, war, wisdom, fertility…. They believed these gods would care for them in death but they never actually witnessed any visible or audible proof of their existence. Yet they continued to gather at the mountain doing all sorts of immoral actions in an effort to please the god they sought. It seems ridiculous to most of us but we have gods of our own that many people choose to continue to seek life and happiness from. 

1 Kings 18 tells us that Elijah called on his God to go head to head with Ba’al and Ashera. 450 prophets called out for Ba’al to appear while another 400 called out to Ashera, yet nothing happened. “Around noon Eliyahu [Elijah] began ridiculing them: ‘Shout louder! After all, he’s a god, isn’t he? Maybe he’s daydreaming, or on the potty, or he’s away on a trip. Maybe he’s asleep, and you have to wake him up.” (1 Kings 18:27)

However, Elijah’s God showed up in an undeniable, powerful way That’s the God I want; the One who shows up and makes Himself known to all creation. Do we have multiple gods in the USA? Absolutely! Some of our gods names are Money, Sex, Alcohol, Drugs, Pride, Children, and Self. 

“See now that I, yes I, am he; and there is no God beside me. I put to death and I make alive; I wound and I heal; no one saves anyone from my hand!” ( Deuteronomy 32:39) There are lots of little gods but only one God who can make a Bible story out of your life. Everyone serves a god of some sort. Who will sit on the throne of your heart today?