Your God, Jealous?

"You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God" Exodus 20:4-5

Hello readers.  Welcome to my heart.  Let's begin.

Amazing how life brings clearer understandings of God's word to us. As I've been watching a few families and my own trying to handle rebellious children, this verse really brings about some clarity.  I've witnessed and listened to parents hurt for their children when they become rebellious.  Some express it differently.  Some retaliate with anger, some just give up.  Hmmm...what is a parent to do?  What does God expect the parents to do in these situations?  I don't know, but maybe we can find it from how He handles us? Because we were ALL once an enemy of Him.  This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Colossians 1:21

Here's where I'm headed with this thought, or rather the revelation I had about this verse. Here's the situation.

So there's a mother and one of her daughters is becoming rebellious.  And, I've been able to listen to this mom's anger and frustration with her daughter's attitude towards her.  And common phrases that I continue to hear are things like: "Out of all I've done for this girl, this is how she treats me."  "She should respect me more than that, I'm her mother." After a while of listening, I finally allowed my mind to wander away at what those phrases really were saying as they were coming from the mother's mouth.  Check this out. This is what I really began to hear.

"I held you in my womb for 9 months.  I carried you and nurtured you until you were healthy enough to do it on your own. I supplied for you, protected you.  When I didn't feel like changing your diaper, I did it because I loved you.  Whenever you cried, I came to see about you.  Whatever you needed, I did what I could to give it to you.  All I've done for you, all these things I've done for you, because I love you.  And this is the thanks I get?"

And my Creator showed me Himself in all of this.  Hey, its honestly the only way I've been able to make some kind of understanding of it.  And it blows my mind to see the relevance here, the obvious story that is being played out.  For the ones who need help with what I'm really saying, here's the meat of this story. 

"The mother's love for her child isn't being repaid by the daughter."  Perhaps it'll never get paid, but that's not the point.  The mother understands that.  She knows the daughter will never be able to repay her for all the sacrifices and efforts she's put in to ensuring she was well taken care of, but it's like a slap in the face for the daughter to basically say her mother, "I owe you nothing.  I do not care about your guidance or nurturing or advice anymore."  All of a sudden, the mother knows how to do NOTHING.  But the young baby girl never refused a diaper change, but now the young girl is an adult now with her own understanding of life.  Teenagers. Continue reading.   

"But you used to listen.  But you used to love me.  You used to look up to me.  You used to want to be close to me.  What has happened?"  And here's where you can find the serpent again whispering lies to the young woman.  Painfully, the mother has to watch as rebellion takes over her child, just like God had to watch Adam and Eve give way to the deception of the enemy.  "You reap what you sow" has to be acted out, God implemented that system.  He has to watch as we continue to choose other gods over Him, just like this daughter is choosing to follow her own way over her mothers.  And I can hear the mother screaming, "But that boy cannot love you like I can.  Those friends can't love you like I have.  All these things we're fighting about is only me screaming at you I just want your heart back with me.  When you were a little girl, I held you, I adored you.  And when you reached the age for you to choose your own influence you decided to go with another besides me."

Here's what we're dealing with. We live in an idolatrous generation.  So many of us choose other gods over the only GOD that has the power to do anything for us.  We'll continue to choose pacifiers that temporarily satisfies our hunger or thirst, where God is offering us a fully satisfying mean and drink in John 6:35, "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." 


So, the take away from this is to remove what's making God jealous.  But see the heart behind it though, its not from an insecurity, but instead its from an understanding that those other gods you try to replace Him with cannot fully do anything for you.  Quick example, the fruit from the tree may have temporarily tasted good, but look at the full cost.  So, the real question is, why do we even bother?