James cautions believers that
friendship with the world is hatred toward God. While most of us know that in
our mind, I’m not sure we understand it on an emotional heartfelt level. James
said, “Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused
to live in us envies intensely” (James 4:5 NIV)? God is a jealous God (Ex
20:5), so it stands to reason that his Spirit within us is also jealous. We
pray to God to feel the Spirit’s love, peace and joy, but I doubt any of us
have prayed to feel his jealousy.
1 comment:
Gail;
-----The concept of jealousy gets just a little more respect than does Rodney Dangerfield. That respect is found in the place given for it in the marriage relationship. It extends a little bit from there to the girlfriend/boyfriend relationships (no, I won’t acknowledge any place for it in the boyfriend/boyfriend, girlfriend/girlfriend relationships.) It seems that its respect is found where true possession is acknowledged, and Paul does acknowledge that husbands and wives possess one another, physically speaking anyway. The Lord yet possesses us all. Girlfriends/boyfriends do make loyalty commitments. So do friends. And employees and bosses. So jealousy, at least in a subtle sense, does have some places in our lives. And, well, OK, boyfriend/boyfriends and such are people, too. Our hearts have to go out to them in a jealous sort of way; read on and see.
-----The real respect for jealousy comes from knowledge of the concept rather than notion of it. We usually so abuse jealousy that our notion of it is pretty negative. But Merriam/Webster defines jealousy: “1a: intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness.” Now, the PC fascists have been pecking away at the useful purpose of intolerance for a couple decades. But intolerance yet has a purpose in doing right. Sin and error are destructive things. I can recall bridges, dance floors, roofs, and porches that have collapsed, killing and injuring many, because of architectural, construction, or maintenance error. Certainly we should tolerate wrong enough to be forgiving, but not enough to be enabling. Our own rivals probably should be tolerated; we’re really nobody to be rivaled; we’re all false. But false or not, everyone is owed a little faithfulness, for that is an element of good relationship. Again, jealousy finds at least a finger hold of respect.
-----But with God, these effects are completely different. He is righteous completely. And everything is His to possess, I suppose because He made and defines it all. Moreover, He enables everything’s existence in that “uphold everything” kind of way. It goes a bit beyond relationship. Nothing can rival Him. So it is improper from both a logical and ethical sense that anything might rival Him, or let’s more accurately say… try to rival Him. Then unfaithfulness is the giving of His due honor, glory, and worship to anything trying to rival Him, whether it be a thought, an action, a thing, or a belief. It tends to throw gasoline on the flames of His wrath.
-----“2: hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage.” We have no right to such hostility. We are nothing to be rivaled, and we’re often advantaged by even road kill, seeing some of the things we do and say. But God is the propriety of such hostility. He is perfection. Anything thinking to advantage God is a rival. And anything that could rival God would be rivaling the love He is, well, technically put, trying to advantage it. This brings us to the substance of His jealousy. For God is the very way all things must love. Nothing can rival that; anything attempting to rival it destroys it. Love is either made for all or destroyed for all. It’s like a fabric, like those socks ladies wear: one little fiber breaks and a flaw runs from heel to…
-----“3: vigilant in guarding a possession” really attracts my attention to God’s jealousy. I love Him for His jealousy. I want to be His possession, for having well earned the nickname “Stupid Steve” before twenty, I don’t want to be left to my own guardianship. His jealousy comforts me because it is the face of His love turned toward what might harm me. Thank you, Daddy.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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