Read Exodus 34:10-14

“Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (v.14)

His is a perfect jealousy. Untainted by sin, the one true and holy God calls Himself Jealous and mankind struggles to catch on.

We see the word ‘jealous’ and picture angry spouses and possessive friends whose doubts have turned them into green monsters. We picture resentment that demands more of what cannot be had. That’s what comes to mind when we think of someone jealous, not the God who named Himself as such.

But the God called Jealous is also called Love. He’s called Holy and Faithful and Merciful, and His jealousy for His people is of an entirely different sort.

The kind of jealous we know comes from a fear that maybe we aren’t enough, an uncertainty that we’ll ever have enough to fully satisfy us. But the jealousy of God stems from the secure truth that only He is enough, only He can ever give enough, only He will ever provide everything we need for real life.

So when God made a covenant with the Israelites, He made sure they understood they would only come to Him for worship. Any other god would leave them wanting. He called Himself Jealous because He wanted the whole of their affection and would take nothing less than whole-hearted followers.

That same God has made a covenant with us, His followers, through His Son’s blood. He is still called Jealous. He wants nothing less than everything we are because He knows that devotion to anything or anyone but Him is not real life.

The God called Jealous wants us to only know real life and He knows the only way to real life is being all-in with Him. No side glances at other could-be loves. No flirting with pretend life-givers, the things making like they’re going to fill us up but fall desperately short. Only Him. Only all-in with the one true God called Jealous.

Is there anything in your life that has caused your gaze to wander from truly worshiping the one true God called Jealous?

Bria Wasson