We serve a jealous God.
I realize if you’ve spent any amount of time in a church, you’ve heard this before. I’m not telling you something new and exciting.
But do we really understand what that means? I mean, really get it?
As I work my way through the Old Testament, I’m reminded again and again how fiercely God wants us to be loyal to no one but Him, and what happens when we get distracted. How easily things fall apart and we end up in captivity again when we stop being loyal to God.
Sometimes when I read about the Israelites and how often they lost focus on God, I think about how unfair it is for God to ask me to remain loyal. If the Israelites who were living in the presence of God, who followed a cloud out of Egypt that contained God, who witnessed the Red Sea DRY UP SO THEY COULD WALK THROUGH IT, lost their way and started worshiping other gods, how in the world does He expect me to?
I acknowledge this is wrong thinking, but I’m telling you what goes on in my head anyway.
When I get off on these “poor me, this is so hard” moments, I’m brought back very quickly to the reminder that we’re all human and made to crave things not of this world. That’s a pretty humbling and sobering fact, that I pretend I’m better (or, sometimes, worse) than those that came before me, but we’re all created by the same Creator so why in the world would we not have similar characteristics? We’re all made to worship something and if we lose our focus, of course we’re going to find something else to praise.
It doesn’t matter if I just witnessed a miracle by Jesus himself, I still sometimes forget who I am.
One way the enemy works so well in pulling us away from our worship and dependence on God is that he knows how we’re made too. He knows we long to be filled up and made whole, and he’s got lots of pretty, shiny ways to help us pretend that’s happening. He preys on the unanswered questions we all have.
A few weeks ago, Chris and I were driving to Ohio for a family gathering. We passed the exit for the Creation Museum which the church people love. I have mixed feelings about that place and so does Chris, so we were discussing them. He shared some questions he had, and I told him some things that didn’t make sense to me. I would say Chris and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on what we believe about the beginnings of earth, humans, and the whole shebang. While it does annoy me he doesn’t see my points as the “right way,” I also know we have to live in this tension of not knowing all the answers.
We are not God. Mary Graham is not God. Chris Graham is not God. And once we say those sentences out loud, we get to acknowledge that we will NEVER know all the answers. Yes, the Bible is full of answers, but they’re not all there. We will always wonder about some stuff. We will always come across some things that seem confusing or weird.
WELCOME TO FOLLOWING JESUS.
It’s not all crystal clear and sometimes I have more questions than answers.
God knows this. He’s okay with us not knowing everything. I’ve tried discussing this with Him. I’ve tried letting Him know giving me a little more information or perspective would be helpful, but He seems to be against it.
Rude.
You know who wants us to not be okay with the unknown? The devil. He loves it when we ask questions, don’t get the answers we want (or an answer at all), and then we go somewhere else to get it. He loves to jump in when things are quiet or uncomfortable and help you find what you think you need.
I heard someone say recently that “the Devil has his miracles too” and it’s changed the way I view so many things. I don’t mean to get all wizard-y on you right now, but if we acknowledge God is all-powerful and all-knowing, we have to also acknowledge that the Devil, who was once a part of God’s heaven, has some power too. And he’s not using that power for good, friends.
So when you go to the psychic because you’re worried about how your grandma passed away, yes, you might be getting real answers, but that’s the wrong kind of power. I’m scared of that power. You should be too.
When you look for answers other places than God, He’s going to get angry and jealous. And an angry, jealous God doesn’t normally work out in our favor. In the Old Testament, he ruins whole cities, whole people groups, who continually disobey and dishonor him.
It’s really all or nothing with God. We can’t say we believe in Him and then also say there are other, valid ways to get to heaven. That’s not how it works. That’s not what God tells us. So while it might not be politically correct, it’s the Truth and we’ve got to be all or nothing too.
We serve a jealous God.
If you’ve ever wondered where God was as you were in the midst of some heavy, heartbreaking stuff, and you’re calling out to Him but He seems to be silent, remember He’s a jealous God. You (and I) don’t get the full benefit of God when we’re also saying He’s not the only way. If Buddha seems wise and you want to cover your bases just in case reincarnation is legit, God will not be all in for you. If you’re cleansing your chakras because the spirits haven’t been kind to you recently, God will not be all in for you.
We serve a jealous God.
We can’t half-ass this. We can’t ask God for favors, relief, answered prayers, and peace while also side-eyeing another god or religion. We can’t pick and choose all the best parts of all the religions—whatever we think makes the most sense to us—and make our own special God plan.
The Israelites did that and God put them back in bondage. The Israelites did that and he killed them.
We serve a jealous God.
This commitment to God is hard. I don’t want to use sugary, misleading words full of false advertising. We will forever-and-always have little nagging questions, heartbreak that doesn’t make sense, and moments of distraction. We’re human. We’re sinful. We’re all made by the same Creator.
But we have to be all in. We enjoy freewill, and we get to choose. We have the freedom to say “no thanks you” and move on from God. That’s part of the deal, we get to decide if we’re in or not. But stop straddling both sides. We serve a jealous God, and he won’t be satisfied with wishy-washy.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15-16
The good news, now and forever, is that He loves us not matter what we choose, but to get the full benefit, the full glory of God here on earth, we have to be all in. Because, thankfully, we serve a jealous God.
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