One thing I’ve learned about God, is that He is a jealous God.
Not in a nasty, spiteful, insecure way.
But in a radically sacrificial, tender and loving way.
His love is extreme and unyielding. This sort of stunning love is unwilling to see us broken and wounded. Therefore, His love pursues us with a relentless passion that does not tolerate lesser loves standing in the way of our First Love.
In a life of boundless passion and sacrifice, He gave us His everything; not so we could binge on a buffet of mediocrity, but so that we could Feast with the King of Kings. He gave His all, so we could give Him our everything, and in turn, find real life.
His jealous love pulses with a passion to consume every part of us; not just segments of our lives. And in letting Him penetrate all of who we are, we are filled with the wholeness we crave.
God is jealous for our hearts because he knows that any lesser love will scar us. It is His perfect love that will heal us and make us whole.
His love is jealous but is also gentle.
And He is always present and willing to pick us up where we are (messy and wounded and hopeless), and carry us into the best life we can imagine.
The key to finding life, is to fully surrender to His good love.
So what?
What does that mean for my real life?
The fact that God’s love is jealous means that He cares about consuming every area of our lives.
Yes, I said it: Every. Area.
He is jealous for every corner of my heart, mind and daily activities to be filled with His goodness and presence, so that my life is FULL and NOT LACKING.
So that my life is secured with light, not haunted by shadows.
My honest (but God knows at times wobbly) desire is to have nothing in my life that is off-limits to Him.
No habit, no thought, no relationship, no words, no pleasure, no emotion that is not fully and willingly exposed to the light of His loving eyes.
They all belong to Him.
Why would I want to give every.area. to Him?
To lose control of my life and give it fully to God?
Because I’ve gotten a glimpse of His unreasonable goodness, of His tangible love. And a glimpse is enough to know that He is good and He is trustworthy.
I’ve come to believe that HE CAN ONLY BE GOOD TOWARDS US. IT’S WHO HE IS. And I’ve come to trust that about Him. All Grace.
And what happens when my mood or desires don’t line up with this idea of “giving myself fully”?
When my desires don’t lead me to surrender, I’ve learned that it’s because I’m looking at a lesser love, and believing the lie that it will be enough for me.
The liberating truth is, ONLY HE is ENOUGH for me.
So, I simply ask Him to change my desires and open my eyes to who He is.
And when I stumble or get distracted or something comes along that is hard, or I feel tempted to cling my own ways over His, I just ask Him again– to turn my eyes away from lesser loves, and to show me more of His goodness and love.
And He answers just like He answered Moses- He lets His goodness pass by. He reveals Himself through everyday life and moments and people. And I realize how good He is.
And the more of Him I see of Him, the more I want to give of me.
Every area of your life that belongs to Him is
like a target for His blessing and fullness.
So here it is, friends: the key to finding blessing, wholeness and joy is to hold nothing back from God.
It’s simple. And, yes, sometimes hard. But EVERY TIME, it’s worth it. Because He is always good. And to follow Him is to let His love touch every part of who we are and what we do. To give Him everything.
God is better we can imagine, and He is jealously affectionate for us: He wants every area of our lives so that He can pour out His blessings of healing and fullness into us.
Here’s a question for you…Do you believe that God cares about and wants to fill every area of your life? And not in a “I’m a controlling angry deity, looking down from heaven waiting to smite you if you mess up” sort of way. But in a loving, tender, Fatherly way?
What are some of the ways God has met you with goodness when you’ve given areas of your life fully to Him?