July 2, 2026

"How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word." (1 Kings 18:21)

Elijah restored the sealing powers in this last dispensation. This power Joseph Smith celebrated in exuberance for it enabled man to bind God's children to each other and bind them to God in the holy order of matrimony and exaltation. It is quite literally the power to fulfill the pinnacle of God's with and glory, to bring to pass the eternal life of man (Moses 1:39). We, too, should exalt in the glorious news of this restoration!

However, as it it was Elijah who restored these keys, let us also listen, as his voice echoes from the grave. We cannot straddle the line of righteousness and idolatry; "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other" (Matthew 6:24). His call is a rally to choose, to exercise that divine gift of agency to either receive liberty and eternal lifev through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death according to the captivity and power of the devil (2 Nephi 2:27). We cannot wait to see fire rain down from heaven, we must choose this day, and the fire will come and sanctity our choice and sacrifice. The power to choose (for it is indeed power), she to choose righteousness, is the essence of godliness, but the natural man, the enemy of God (Mosiah 3:19), will do anything to keep even a toe over the line. Halting between these two opinions, no matter how far over the line towards God, is halting our eternal progression.

When we choose God, we will not only see the fire, but also the rain, which sustains eternal life as we become complete and whole and the work and glory of God is finished, and it is good. "And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand." (1 Kings 18:44).