“Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
Exodus 34:14
God’s name is Jealous? Really? Jealousy seems like a bad thing. I mean, what husband or wife doesn’t get driven a little bit crazy by the jealous actions of their spouse?
This morning I was running. I had a strong sense from the Lord that I needed to stop and walk. Now, I seriously struggled with this because my mind often tells me when I am running to stop and walk. I mean, sometimes, when it is really a difficult run, my mind practically screams, “STOP!”
The sense was so strong, and it didn’t seem to be a physical or mental thing, that I stopped jogging and began walking even though I had only run 2.5 miles and was planning on running 3.1 miles. Then, I clearly heard the Lord tell me to walk around a specific block. So I did.
As I began walking my iPod began playing “Slow Fade.” This is a song about how we can slip into sin. We don’t set out to do so, but we slowly fade from a place of righteous living into a place where all seems gray and we make choices we shouldn’t. The song plays off of the famous children’s song, “Oh be careful little eyes what you see.” At that moment I saw a house with a light on. It was still early morning and completely dark. Out of the corner of my eye I realized someone walked by the window inside the house and I began looking at the window as I was walking, my thoughts wondering whether someone might walk by in less than full attire.
At that very moment, “Slow Fade” ended and a new song began playing: “How He Loves Me.” The very first line of that song is this – “He is jealous for me.” In that moment, like no other in my life, I understood what it means that God’s name is Jealous. I understood that He was always with me and always watching over me. And He loves me like no other. He loves me more than my wife does. Just as I wouldn’t stare at another woman in front of my wife, He longs for me to love Him in that way – not to allow anything to distract me from Him, whether it be a woman, a hobby, work, anything. He loves me so much that He is jealous for me, and what I see when I feel my wife’s jealousy is a small picture of how much He loves me and is jealous (and zealous) for me. It’s not a bad thing – it is the awesome power of His love for me, the all loving, all powerful God of the Universe who only does what is best for me.
His zeal for me is such that He left the heavens, came to earth in the form of a servant, and died for me.
O How He Loves Me! And O how he loves you! Rest in His jealous zeal like never before.