During my quiet time I have been going through a study by Beth Moore called "Breaking Free". Today, I was reading in Exodus 20:4-5 (In the midst of the 10 Commandments) Exodus 20:5 says, "...for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God..." Now, I definitely see how this could be a stumbling block for many. As I read this I was reminded of a time I heard an interview with Oprah. She was talking about a time when she was in church and this verse was read. She said she immediately thought, why would I want to worship a God who is jealous of me?
Now, my instant reaction to her saying this was, "Wow, how conceited and full of yourself do you have to be to think that the God of the universe is jealous of you?" But, as with many areas in the Bible, our English translations don't always say accurately what the original text meant. The Hebrew and Greek languages have many many different words to describe different aspects of something. (For example, we have one word for "love" and that can mean "I love ice cream" or "I love my husband". Either way we use the same word...The Greek, however, translates many different forms of love. Eros, for example, is erotic love. Agape is the unconditional, self-sacrificing love...Our language looses a lot in translation.)
But, back to the jealous God and Oprah's question. Why would we want to worship a god who is jealous of us? I certainly wouldn't... But, the LORD God, the God of the universe, the Creator, is not jealous of you. He owns the "cattle on a thousand hillsides" (Psalm 50:10). He created everything, including you and me. What Exodus 20:5 is saying is God is jealous FOR you. He loves you so much, He wants what is best for you to such an extent, that He is jealous FOR you. 2 Corinthians 11:2 talks about a "godly jealousy". Being jealous OF someone or something is a sin. God cannot sin. This "godly jealousy" is pure and holy.
As a parent, I want what is best for my children. I yearn for them to succeed, to thrive. If I see them doing something that I know will harm them, will derail them from success, it angers me, it hurts me...I am not angry at them, per say, I am angry for them. If, as parents, we react that way with our children, how much more does God, Who loves completely, fully and without fail, react that way when He sees us falling into the bondage of sin. He sees we are on a path that will harm us, that will derail us from the blessings He has planned for us. He is so in love with us He is jealous for us, wanting only what is best for our lives.
The rest of Exodus 20:4-5 talks about idols. "Do not make an idol for yourself...do not bow down to them..." Now, this is important. God is not, in any way, jealous of other "gods". (And, by the way, a god is anything we put in our lives above the LORD God. You may not think you worship anything, but God has implanted in everyone an internal desire to worship. If you are not worshiping the One True God, you are worshiping something...your job, the Wii or PS3, money...the list can go on and on) The LORD knows that worshiping these things is not what is best for you and therefore it hurts Him, angers Him, to see you following them. These things cannot save you, they cannot deliver you from despair, they hold no real glory.
Only God can save. He knew you before you were born. He knows every hair on your head. He loved you so much He sent His only Son to the earth to die for you. If you were the only person in the world, He still would have died for you. There is nothing in your past, nothing in your present and nothing in your future He doesn't already know. If there were anything too big for Him, His death would have been pointless...but it wasn't.
Jesus died for you. He died for me.
He chose to do this because He desires to spend eternity with us, He desires to bless us, He desires to give us peace. He has our best interest at heart. Above all else He desires for us to know Him, to love Him, to believe in Him, to trust and worship Him and Him alone. There are such bountiful blessings in store for those who do.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
February 10
February 10, 2010... 3 years. It really doesn't seem like it's been that long. Time heals all wounds? I'm not so sure I believe that. Time maybe makes the wounds less pronounced, less in-your-face, but they don't go away, not completely.
It would be his 71st birthday at the end of this month. Instead, he is celebrating his 3 year birthday today. The eternal-side of of me wants to celebrate with him. The human-side, not so much.
I still dream about him almost every night. I guess it's my brain's way of dealing with him not being here. In my dreams he is alive and kicking, helping me some way or spending time with me like he used to do. I keep wondering when those dreams will stop. Maybe never.
There are still occasions where I almost pick up the phone to call him about one thing or another. It only lasts a second before reality kicks in and I think, "Hello, dummy...remember?" It's so weird the random things that trigger nostalgia.
He was a great daddy. The best. His love language was definitely gift-giving. He loved giving gifts. Valentine's Day was a favorite of his. He always had some fabulous piece of jewelry for my mom, my sister and me. If you'd ask him, he would say he hated that Karyn and I had our ears pierced, but he gave us some amazing earrings over the years. If he was going to buy something, it was going to be the best there was. He didn't skimp.
Anyone who had the honor and privilege of knowing him knows he took joy in giving to others. It was never something he would admit, it was just him.
Growing up, my favorite days were our days together. He took off one day a week from the pharmacy to just spend with me. During the school year, he would pick me up from school and we would go do whatever...go to the farm store, go to Sam's, just drive around..it didn't matter. Summertime meant we had the whole day. We would go to Branson for the day and ride every ride at Silver Dollar City 10 times each. He never complained as I drug him from ride to ride to ride.
He was the dad who bought his daughter and her friends tickets to go see Marky Mark, then suffered through the concert quietly, knowing how much joy it brought them. He was the dad who, when his daughter wanted to go see Warrent, Trixter and Firehouse in concert, took her without question, and then stuffed bubblegum in his ears to keep his eardrums from bursting. He was the dad who would get tickets 3rd row back at a major rock concert, where the speakers are so close they control your heartbeat, just to spend time with his daughter. He was the dad who, though he never tried, became one of my best friends. He was the dad who, even after all three of his children were grown, was still lovingly called daddy...because that's what he was.
Happy homecoming day, daddy!
It would be his 71st birthday at the end of this month. Instead, he is celebrating his 3 year birthday today. The eternal-side of of me wants to celebrate with him. The human-side, not so much.
I still dream about him almost every night. I guess it's my brain's way of dealing with him not being here. In my dreams he is alive and kicking, helping me some way or spending time with me like he used to do. I keep wondering when those dreams will stop. Maybe never.
There are still occasions where I almost pick up the phone to call him about one thing or another. It only lasts a second before reality kicks in and I think, "Hello, dummy...remember?" It's so weird the random things that trigger nostalgia.
He was a great daddy. The best. His love language was definitely gift-giving. He loved giving gifts. Valentine's Day was a favorite of his. He always had some fabulous piece of jewelry for my mom, my sister and me. If you'd ask him, he would say he hated that Karyn and I had our ears pierced, but he gave us some amazing earrings over the years. If he was going to buy something, it was going to be the best there was. He didn't skimp.
Anyone who had the honor and privilege of knowing him knows he took joy in giving to others. It was never something he would admit, it was just him.
Growing up, my favorite days were our days together. He took off one day a week from the pharmacy to just spend with me. During the school year, he would pick me up from school and we would go do whatever...go to the farm store, go to Sam's, just drive around..it didn't matter. Summertime meant we had the whole day. We would go to Branson for the day and ride every ride at Silver Dollar City 10 times each. He never complained as I drug him from ride to ride to ride.
He was the dad who bought his daughter and her friends tickets to go see Marky Mark, then suffered through the concert quietly, knowing how much joy it brought them. He was the dad who, when his daughter wanted to go see Warrent, Trixter and Firehouse in concert, took her without question, and then stuffed bubblegum in his ears to keep his eardrums from bursting. He was the dad who would get tickets 3rd row back at a major rock concert, where the speakers are so close they control your heartbeat, just to spend time with his daughter. He was the dad who, though he never tried, became one of my best friends. He was the dad who, even after all three of his children were grown, was still lovingly called daddy...because that's what he was.
Happy homecoming day, daddy!
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