No one paid attention

And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. – 1 Kings 18v29

You almost have to feel sorry for the prophets of Baal. In the great ‘Contest of the Gods’ Elijah gave them chance to go first. They started crying out, ‘O Baal hear us, Oh Baal hear us.’ Nothing happened. The started jumping up and down to get Baal’s attention – still nothing.

Elijah mocked them and their efforts to get Baal to listen to them. Nothing.

Apparently they has a custom of self cutting to let Baal know they were serious. They cut themselves till the blood was flowing.

Still nothing.

The prophesied all day until evening drew near. ‘But, there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.’

The lesson here is pretty simple. Religion is useless. For millennia man has tried everything he can to use religion to get God’s attention. Mankind has tried everything religious to make God hear them.

But there is no voice, no one answers, no one pays attention.

That is the hopelessness of trying to reach God our way. God has already reached out to us with through His Son. He is the One who became one of us. He went to the cross to satisfy God requirements.

Jesus said that He, not religion, is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, no matter what his religious effort, apart from Christ.

Religion brings no voice, no answer, and no attention.

Only faith in Christ can achieve the goal that these prophets, and millions of others, and sought after for so long.