In Moses' last speech to the
Israelites there are so many wonderful lessons hidden inside. There
is so much to learn for us all. One particular verse caught my eye
this morning:
"The Lord your God is a devouring
fire, a jealous God." Deuteronomy 4:24
Now at first I thought that that
can't be right. God cannot sin and as far as I know jealousy is
sin. But when I looked deeper into the true meaning of jealousy I
realised that God is right in being jealous.
Jealousy is the emotion related to
fear that something you have will be taken away by someone else.
And in God's case it can also mean - "Expecting complete devotion".
On the other hand envy is an emotion related to coveting what
someone else has. And that is a big difference. God can never be
envious, because He owns everything. But He can be jealous, when
His beloved people rather choose to be with another.
The more I thought about it, the
sadder I became. If you read the whole Bible it is a wonderful love
story relating God's never ending love and patience with people.
His whole idea with the creation was to have fellowship with
mankind. And when Satan came and spoiled the party, God still
created a system to have fellowship with mankind through the whole
sacrificial system involving His presence in the Tabernacle and
later in the Temple. Unfortunately the people didn't appreciate His
presence with them and they stopped to worship Him in the manner
that He ought to be praised. Their hearts grew cold and they
drifted off into the arms of another. And God in His jealousy sent
them off into exile, hoping that they will repent and turn back to
Him. And His ultimate statement of His love was when Jesus came and
died on the cross in order to take away their sins and restore
fellowship with mankind again. The veil in the Temple tore in two,
inviting all to come into the presence of God once again. And today
the invitation to us all still stands.
But unfortunately we have fallen in
love with others again. We love to spend hours upon hours on Face
book, we love to sit mindlessly before the television for hours on
end, we love to browse our I-pad for the latest news and happening
articles, we love to buy gossip magazines in order for us to be
able to discuss the latest developments in the stars' lives with
our friends, we love to rush around in this life, acquiring more
and more. Now I am not saying it is sin to watch television or to
be on Face book or to listen to the news, but there must always be
a healthy balance. As most of us are too tired when we climb into
bed to spend 5 minutes with God and yet we've spent 2 hours on Face
book. We cannot allow these small jackals to rob us from making
time to fellowship with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Nothing is more important than that.
God is a jealous God, He longs for
you to make time for Him and to listen to His voice. He wants to
embrace you and nurture you, but if you are in the arms of another,
He cannot do it. Sit still for a moment and reassess your life and
make sure that your priorities are what it is supposed to be, God
above all else. Only God and no other. All 'idols' in our lives
have to go; He should be our number one priority.
Father God please forgive us for
venturing off. We get so easily side tracked from where we are
supposed to be. We are supposed to spend quality time with You, and
not because we have to, but because we want to. You are our loving
God, our Father and our Savior and we declare that nothing is more
important than You. We love You. In Jesus' Name. Amen