One prophet against four hundred fifty, one altar drenched three times, and one question for a fence-sitting nation: how long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him.

Then Elijah prays about sixty words, and the fire of the LORD falls. Mount Carmel is today's centerpiece. Come ready to have your own wavering named, and your own altar rebuilt.

Elijah's water-soaked altar removed every explanation except God, and his short prayer asked for the only outcome that matters: that this people will know that You, LORD, are God, and that You are turning their hearts back again. Fire that impresses without turning hearts is spectacle; Carmel was mercy wearing flames.

The wavering question still stands, and modern Baals are subtler: whatever we consult first, fund first, and fear most. Rebuild the neglected altar in your life, the prayer time, the surrendered area, and ask the God who answers by fire to fall on it. He is still not interested in half-allegiances, and still able to end long droughts in an afternoon.