The messenger sent to fetch Micaiah told him that the prophets had with one voice given the king a favourable answer. "And mind you agree with them," he added. "As the Lord lives," said Micaiah, "I will say only what the Lord tells me to say." 1 Kings 22:13, 14, N.E.B.

The setting is a meeting of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, with Ahab, king of Israel. Ahab seeks to get Jehoshaphat to join him in a war against Syria. Jehoshaphat first asks that an inquiry be made of the Lord through the prophets. Four hundred come. With one voice they tell Ahab what he wants to know: victory over Syria should they go to war.

But Jehoshaphat is not satisfied. He asks, "Is there not here in Samaria a true prophet of Jehovah besides these four hundred self-styled prophets?" One true prophet remained—Micaiah. Ahab had imprisoned him for his opposition. So Micaiah is brought from prison, his hands tied. He rejects the counsel given by the four hundred. He will not be of those prophets with a smooth tongue who say and do what Ahab demands. Alone, he unfolds the vision God had given him. He bears testimony to the truth without fear and without hesitation. If Ahab and Jehoshaphat go to war against Syria, they will lose. Ahab is furious. Micaiah the prophet is taken back to prison. The two kings reject God's word. They unite and go to war with Syria. They are defeated. Ahab is slain.

Faith in God does not consist of a mere conformity to a doctrine. We must desire above all else to be delivered from our errors and our deficiencies. We must be prepared to pay any price to be guided by God's truth alone. Transformation of our lives is never something achieved en masse.

The good news of God's redemptive love in Christ may be had for the taking, like a gift freely offered. All we have to do is to reach out and take it. It is as simple as that. Yet perversely enough, it is not simple at all. To respond personally to Christ, to be transformed by His love and power, can be the most difficult thing in all the world.

When the final test comes, the majority will go along with the crowd. The true Christian will have to stand alone, undaunted, immovable, because his mind and Heart have been captured by God.