One of the Christian
worship songs I learned from one of our daughters is, "He is jealous for me".
The lyrics say, “He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. When all of a sudden, I am
unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, and I realize just how beautiful
You are, and how great Your affections are for me.”
This song refers to a
passage found in Exodus 20:4-6, “You shall not make for yourself a carved
image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them
nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of
those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep
My commandments.”
Exodus chapter twenty is,
of course, Moses delivering the Ten Commandments. Verses four through six are
the Second Commandment, “Thou Shalt Make No Graven Images.” Beyond the words
of this commandment, Moses was telling us that we should not give our affection
and worship to anyone or anything but God.
The God of the Universe is jealous for me. God, in His infinite power and glory, is concerned about me. As a loving parent He cares what I do. A parent who does not care what his child does or what he becomes does not love that child. God is jealous of my best interest! How amazing is that?
The God of the Universe is jealous for me. God, in His infinite power and glory, is concerned about me. As a loving parent He cares what I do. A parent who does not care what his child does or what he becomes does not love that child. God is jealous of my best interest! How amazing is that?
This concept encapsulates
His Holy zeal for us. He has created us. When we fell and sinned He redeemed
us through His own blood. We are His.
John Kenneth Galbraith, a
economist who taught at Harvard, served as US ambassador to India and was the
commencement speaker at the University from which I graduated. John Kenneth
Galbraith, in his autobiography, “A Life In Our Times,” illustrates the devotion
of Emily Gloria Wilson, his family’s housekeeper. It had been a exhausting day,
and he asked Emily to hold all telephone calls while he had a nap. Shortly
thereafter the phone rang. President Lyndon Johnson was calling from the White
House. "Get me Ken Gailbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson." She replied, "He’s
sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him." "Well, wake him up. I
want to talk to him." "No, Mr. President, I can’t do that. I work for him, not
you." When Galbraith called the President later, he could scarcely believe what
the President said: "Tell that woman I want her here in the White House!"
In the same way before we
were ever born we belonged to God. He gave us life, He shaped us in our
mother’s womb. We are His creation, and we belong to Him.
The jealousy of God is a good
thing. For His jealousy—unlike ours—is not mixed up with weakness or sin. What
we call ‘jealousy’ is mostly something else: insecurity, selfishness, and
suspicion. The Lord’s jealousy, however, has none of these impurities. Yes, He’s
possessive; yes He wants us for Himself; He wants us all and always., “I am my
Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine.”
(Song of Solomon 6:3) In Christ ,
(Song of Solomon 6:3) In Christ ,
Brown
No comments:
Post a Comment