Jealous God

Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:23-24

God has made a covenant with us that is no less significant than the covenant He made with the people of Israel. The old covenant was established with the blood of goats and bulls, but this new covenant has been established with the precious blood of man's only Savior Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:13-14). If God was jealous for the worship of those living under the old covenant, how much more will He be jealous for the worship of the redeemed living under His new covenant bought with the blood of Christ?!

God is a jealous God. By that I do not mean that God is a paranoid stalker. He's not like some celestial boyfriend who constantly steals your cell phone to read all your text messages. No. God is like a righteous husband who rightly refuses to allow His spouse to cheat on Him. God has gone to great lengths to purchase believers for His own. He will not allow us to begin bowing down to the god of money now. He will not stand idly by as we worship at the altar of lust and sexual promiscuity. Nor will He remain silent as we act as though other gods and religions are equally valid. Allah is not God. The Hindu Brahman is not God. Judaism's understanding of God apart from Christ is an incomplete and inaccurate understanding of who He is. Mother Nature is not God; He is not in the trees or the grass all around us. Nor is He a myth thought up by man. God is real. He is alive and He will not be ignored by His own followers. He is jealous for the Christian's love and faithfulness.

So if you call yourself by the name of Christ, ask yourself this: Are you giving God a reason to be jealous? Are you worshiping false gods either literally by courting other religions or figuratively by bowing to sin in your life? The Bible says draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). If the believer does not do this, if he forgets that He is God's betrothed and begins to run after other gods, then he will soon experience the judgment of the God who is a consuming fire. 

For further reading...

• Hebrews 9- Especially vs. 13-14.
• John 12:42- Do you bow down to the fear of man or man's opinion of you?
• Deuteronomy 6:4-5- There is only one God! Give Him your all.