“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3.
In today’s world, this typically no longer means giant chocolate bunnies or golden calves.
Today’s “gods” aren’t as flashy and, therefore, can be much less easily recognized. But open your eyes. Check yourself.
When certain "gifts" from God fill our thoughts more than God himself…
When we aren't giving up everything in order to pursue Him…
When our romance with Jesus is not our absolute priority…
We’re most likely idolizing something.
For years, I’ve idolized earthly possessions. I’ve been jealous for things that, in the end, will always leave me empty.
Mentors.
Affirmation.
Friendships.
Human love.
Leadership positions.
My athletic ability.
My personality.
My strengths.
My control.
Don’t get me wrong. These things are not bad. In fact, many of them are good. But only when we see them through a lens that recognizes them as gifts from our Father, not rights we’re entitled to that we depend on for our security, or our wholeness.
I've been jealous for the wrong things for far too long. I'm tired of the person I used to be, the person I sometimes still am.
When I cling to other things, I can’t cling as hard to the Father. And these things will almost always fail us. Because the only constant in our lives that will never fail is Jesus.
You know what it finally took for me to begin letting go of the things I've clung to for so long? The ONLY way I am able to turn from (and turn from in the future) the things I’ve idolized?
It’s NOT:
…head knowledge/knowing right from wrong
…because someone told me to
…listening to advice from a friend
…by will-power
…it's not even a Bible verse
It is ONLY by:
….experiencing God’s love. His good, unconditional, limitless, fully satisfying, never-ending love.
It is by tasting something so beyond the false sense of fulfillment received through idols that we can unclench our fist and open our hands to life abundant.
We only let ourselves reach the point of idolizing something when we’ve refused to believe that God’s love is enough. And when those things begin to be stripped away, for whatever reason, we fight it. We get jealous. I went into my week at Training Camp with a bitter taste in my mouth: jealousy.
For most of my life, the word "jealousy" had a dark, negative feel to it. It was as heavy as the chains that bound me to it. That is until I was introduced to the jealousy that fuels a divine romance. Our Maker is jealous for us with a holy jealousy. And His jealousy brings freedom.
And what I want more than anything is to be jealous for Him alone.
