Jealous For You

Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 

– Exodus 34:14

My oldest daughter, a senior in high school, visited Texas Christian University, TCU, last weekend. She went to her first tailgate party and nationally televised football game. Tim McGraw sang and ESPN kicked off the pregame festivities. Through a friend, she was also invited to a postgame party with many of the football players. What an amazing experience! I could wait to tell my husband.

He wasn’t impressed with his daughter’s invitation to a postgame sorority party. And he wasn’t enthralled with her company, even if they HAD won the game. He was first and foremost protective and jealous for his daughter.

God is your protective and jealous Father. He desires to be first in your life. He is not pleased to be forgotten, overlooked, or ranked anything but #1. But isn’t that what we do all the time?

Our schedules are often so jam packed that we get to God after we tackle other things like work, kids, and sports. We forget to pray and leave God out of important decisions. God gets our left-overs, or none of us at all. That is not His plan.

Do you know what God’s greatest desire is?

It’s really quite simple. God wants to be our one and only God. He is jealous if anyone or anything takes His rightful place. 

Many good things, spouses, children, friends, jobs, habits and dreams, have the potential to compete with God for first place in our lives.

Before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land, God instructed them to immediately destroy all the idols in the land before they enjoyed their new home. (Numbers 33:51-53) How quickly? Immediately.

God wants you to live in your “promised land” and enjoy the life He’s given you. But first you must tear down anything that competes with God. When? Immediately.

Ask God to reveal to you what’s too important or too consuming in your life. Then give it to Him and ask Him to take His rightful place as #1 in your life. He’ll keep on you until you do. Why? Because He’s your jealous Father who loves you with an everlasting, all consuming, never ending love.

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement