Day 15 | Going All In

“He is jealous for me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree. Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy…”
 

 

We’ve probably all heard these opening words from the song “How He Loves” by Christian songwriter John Mark McMillan, but how much have we really thought about what it means that God is jealous?
 

Well, let’s start here… What does it mean for us to be jealous? I know for me it can take on different forms. Perhaps listening to an incredible guitarist knowing that I can never afford the guitar he’s playing. Or maybe climbing into a rusty old car as the neighbor kid pulls out of the garage in a brand new mustang. Or perhaps for you it’s the look in your child’s eyes as they sit at a friend’s birthday party. That longing and desirous look as their friend opens all of the gifts that they wish they had. I know in my own experience that jealousy often feels like a deep hunger for something, perhaps mixed with frustration or even anger that this something is not mine.
 

Hmmm… perhaps it’s the same with God? Perhaps God has a deep hunger for a people who were once His, who have now strayed away. A longing bordering on desperation to have what is not His.

 

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for jealous is kannaw, which means demanding exclusive service. Our God is an “all-in” kind of God. He deeply desires His people, but He doesn’t want a piece of their lives, He wants all of their lives desperately. That is what it means for God to be jealous. He demands that His people be completely sold out for Him, just as He is completely sold out for those He created.

 You might be thinking…what does it look like for God to be sold out for His people? It looks like a father willingly sending his only son to die so that a reckless and lost people can return back to him. Wow. God deeply wants us to be “all-in.” He wants us to serve Him and Him alone, and He sent His only son to die so that we could return back to Him in this way. God is so jealous for us, He wants us so bad that He created a way for us to return to Him. Now through Jesus, we can return to the Father and sell ourselves out for the Gospel of Christ. That is jealousy. That is desire.

 
Father, thank you for your love. Thank you for creating a way for a broken and sinful people to return to you. Thank you for your deep desperation and jealousy for your people. We pray that you will guide us when we fall short and remind us of how you love us. We give you all the praise and glory, now and forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

-Jake Houf