Of all the relationships we have on this earth, God has the right to expect our wholehearted devotion to Him. After all, He made us … we turned our back on Him … He sent His perfect Son to die in our place, and for our sins … Jesus rose from the dead conquering our sin and death … He gave everything for us … the least we can do is love and obey Him. “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24).
Many times when I read this verse, I am thinking about those who completely deny God and shake their finger at Him. The reality is that this verse was written to the children of Israel, the chosen ones of God. This statement of reminder was to this group of people who had His laws; who carried His name; who were responsible to show a world that was polytheistic (believing in multiple and many gods) that there is only One God. This passage was written to a group of people that were supposed to be followers of God. Something happened to them … even though they had the advantage of having His laws, and seeing His hand leading them, and His protection in battle, they still were being drawn into the false teachings of those around them.
Those of us reading this today have had the advantage of holding the entire sixty-six books of the Bible in our hand; written in our language; with study tools and preachers/teachers to explain all its details to us; and yet, we still play around with the philosophies of the world today. We have set up our church services, our music, the way we dress, the attitudes toward sin … on what the “demographics” tell us rather than what God says is right and true. Rather than getting on our knees before God to beg Him for wisdom about how to build our churches, and how to most effectively minister to people, we are raising our finger to feel which way the wind is blowing through surveys, and area studies, and statistics.
God is God … and there is none else! The only One whose opinion really matters is God! It does not matter what my common sense tells me. It does not matter what my neighbor, or politician, or doctor, or teacher, or lawyer, or sports star tells me … what matters is what God is trying to tell me. If God is a jealous God (and He is), am I listening with both ears open and my hands cupped behind each ear to hear every detail? Or, am I so busy listening to the continual chatter of the world trying to influence me that I miss His “still small voice?” Listen to Him today! He is always right!