BIBLE PASSAGE:
“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
(Deuteronomy 4:24)
MEDITATION:
How do you feel about the scriptures in God’s Word? Do you find them interesting
and something to read when you have nothing else to do? Do you read them and
think that they include many suggestions for living, or do you believe that they are
God’s commands and every one of them should be believed…as they are written?
If you believe God’s Word as truth, then when it says He is a ‘jealous God’,
you know He is a jealous God. Paul said to the believers in Corinth that he
loved them with a ‘godly jealousy’.
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised
you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present
you as a pure virgin to him.
(2 Corinthians 11:2)
What does God’s jealousy mean for His children? It means that God loves
us so much that He doesn’t want to leave us alone for one second. It means
He wants us to spend time with Him and He wants our best, not what is left
over after we have pleased ourselves in whatever way we choose. There are
a couple of areas we should consider in response to God’s jealousy.
For one thing, prayer should be a constant part of our lives. We should set
aside time every day to spend in prayer with Almighty God. But when we
consider His jealousy, prayer should be even more. We should pray when
we have some idle time, such as waiting in a checkout line in a store,
waiting to board a plane, caught up in a traffic snarl, waiting to see
a doctor, etc.
We develop relationships with others through our conversations. This is
exactly the reason we need to communicate with God. We do not have
to go through a priest to talk to God; He gave us prayer as our venue for
talking with Him. We need to pray about our concerns, but we also need
to pray for others. Look at Paul’s approach to prayer:
God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel
of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember
you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at
last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come
to you.
(Romans 1:9-10)
When did He pray for others? Paul prayed for others ‘at all times’.
We should think about our own prayer life. Do we pray for others
for a certain amount of time, and then quit praying? If we don’t see
any indications that God is answering our prayers, do we give up and
assume that God is not going to answer our prayer? If we do, aren’t
we making a decision about God’s timing? We can’t do that, can we?
We should pray ‘at all times’ and trust God’s timing on answering our
prayers.
Look at what Jesus tells us about being persistent in praying.
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they
should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town
there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people
thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to
him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For
some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though
I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow
keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t
eventually come and attack me!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what
the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for His
chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting
them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.
However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
(Luke 18:1-8)
Even though the arrogant judge did not fear God or care about the
opinion people had of him, he was still impacted by the persistence
of this widow. And what was the result of her persistence? The unjust
judge said she would receive justice!
Then, Jesus tells us that when we “cry out to Him day and night”, we
will receive justice for our efforts. The justice we receive may not be
the type of justice that we were expecting, but we need to trust that
God will give us His justice, and that’s a good thing, even though it
might not ‘feel’ like at the time. Our responsibility is to pray “at all
times”.
Another way we appease the jealousy of God is through our worship.
Since He is a jealous God, He expects those who really love Him to
spend time with Him on a regular basis. We are given a command
regarding our worship habits:
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward
love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some
are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and
all the more as you see the Day approaching.
(Hebrews 10:24-25)
He tells us to meet together and even more as we see the Day approaching.
We don’t know when the Day will arrive, but we can see signs that the Day
of Jesus’ return is getting closer. However, many of His children are spending
less time worshipping and praying. Some who consistently attended worship
services in the past, have started attending less, or dropped out altogether. It
is a matter of priority choices.
Some may have substituted sinful actions as a replacement for worship,
and many may not be substituting sin for worship, but have allowed their
selfish desires to replace worship. They may have decided to use worship
time to mow their yards, do house repairs, read, etc.
None of these examples are necessarily bad, except for the fact that they
have chosen to do something else during the time they could have spent
with God. Granted, the Covid pandemic caused a change in how some
would worship. But, it has caused some to gradually worship less, and
some have stopped worshipping God at all.
When the scriptures tell us “…not giving up meeting together…”, it
is stressing the importance of being ‘connected’ with other believers.
That means we need to worship with other believers. If we can safely
attend worship services at our church, then we need to be there.
But if there are health concerns that prohibit our attending physically,
then we need to set aside time each week to connect spiritually with
other believers through worship services offered via other venues. It
also means that we continue obeying other commands such as tithing.
We have to make sure that we obediently take (or mail) our tithes to
the church.
When there are reasons we cannot physically attend worship services, we
are not given a ‘free pass’ to ignore some of God’s other commands. Satan
will use every opportunity to influence and corrupt our thought processes
in such a way that cause us to start choosing which commands from God
we will obey, and which ones we will ignore.
If we sincerely believe the scriptures, then we need to obey what they tell us
to do, including our instructions for worshipping God. Statistics show that
only 17% of those who say they love the Lord and are professing Christians,
actually worship on a regular basis. That sounds like many believers are not
taking it seriously when God says He is jealous for our time with Him, doesn’t
it?
ACTION
How have you responded to the instructions (commands) from God’s Word?
Are you making choices to substitute your own desires for His desires? When
the scriptures say He is a jealous God, they are not kidding. Some may think,
“The scriptures tell us that we should not be jealous,
so isn’t God breaking His own commandment?”
No, He isn’t. God isn’t jealous of who we are, or what we have; He is jealous
that Satan is stealing our mind and heart so that we are becoming separated,
or at least disconnected from Him.
Make a self-evaluation and determine how much time you are giving to God
in prayer and worship. Contrast that with how much time you are substituting
your own desires as a replacement for spending time with the Lord. If you feel
you are not giving Him the time He desires of you, then pray and ask Him to
help you relinquish control of your life (including the choices you make) to the
Holy Spirit.
God wants your time because He loves you. In a world that is losing its
capacity to love, we need to gravitate to the One we know will always
love us, and commit to giving Him the time He deserves as our Heavenly
Father.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me If I have been substituting other things
as a replacement for time with You. Remind me of Your consistent,
and enduring love for me. Speak to not only my mind, but also to my
heart and rekindle my desire to spend time with You. Help me to be
consistent in worshipping You, and praying for others ‘at all times’.
Teach me to never give up praying when I don’t see immediate results
from my efforts. Increase my hope so I will persist in praying, and will
trust that You are working things out for my good. When you answer my
prayers in a different way than I expected, give me the wisdom I need to
realize that Your way is best. Protect me from the influences of the evil
one so that I can remain connected with You and other believers. I love
You Lord, and I am grateful for the love You have for me.”
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