God Gets Jealous?

God gets jealous?

My daughter took piano lessons from a Boston Conservatory teacher. Her friend Sarah studied with the same teacher. She complained that their teacher gave all the good solos to my daughter and gave less challenging ones to her. Sarah was jealous of my daughter’s talent. This is how human nature is wired and often reacts. We can’t stand anyone outperforming us.

So we get jealous.

God gets jealous, too.

But for a different reason.

God’s all-consuming jealousy will not tolerate a rival god stealing us away from the true worship of Him. “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14

When we’re jealous of other people’s accomplishments, talent, fame, or fortune, we slap God in the face and grieve him, for we question his decisions and don’t understand his all-consuming jealousy for us. His jealous heart yearns to keep us as jealous for him as he is for us so that no other god can ever steal away our jealousy for Him!

You Lost What?

That’s right. The engagement ring was lost. When Alan came in from baseball practice, he couldn’t find it. He looked in his locker where he always put it, but it wasn’t there. He rummaged through his gym bag. No ring.

When he told his fiancee, she exploded. “I paid good money for that ring, Alan. How could you be so careless? It’s not some cheap ring, you know.”

As he listened to her spit out her anger, he realized for the first time that things meant a lot to her. She seemed, at this point, more concerned about the expensive ring than her love for him.

The ring, he reminded her, symbolizes unity, harmony, and peace within a relationship. He apologized over and over for his carelessness, but words failed to calm her down.

He assured her that the insurance company would replace the ring, but that didn’t satisfy her either. She snapped at him: “It won’t be the same ring; besides, this may sh0w h0w careless you’ll be with other  things.” Alan hoped in time she’d forgive him.

Later, that night as he nursed his guilt feelings, he read what the apostle Paul said about possessions. “Give your heart to heavenly things, heavenly values and possessions, not to earthly things.” Col. 3:2 Losing the ring taught him a painful, but necessary lesson: a relationship with others and the Lord is more important than things, even an engagement ring. 

After they were married,  he prayed that with the Holy Spirit’s strength in time he and his wife would learn together the priority of where things belong in their life.

Honestly, what do you treasure the most?