Idols. They aren’t just golden calves. Idols come in a lot of forms. Work. Relationships. Goals. Foods. Exercise. Kids. Dreams. Plans. All of those things are good, but “too much of a good thing” can be disastrous. And they can be plain wrong if they steal a place that belongs to God.

Our God is a jealous God. He wants our full attention and devotion. But in a world full of distractions, we often put other things — or people — on the thrones of our hearts.

Today’s verses can seem harsh. Punishing the children for the sin of their parents? To the third and fourth generation? Praise God for His immense love and mercy for us! Yet still, the truth remains — our God is a jealous God.

And rightly so. He is the Creator of the universe. He is all-powerful and deserves every single shred of our attention and adoration. He loves us beyond our imagination, and he sent his Son to die for us. He, and no other, should be on the throne of our hearts.

All other idols will fail us. They won’t live up to our expectations or fulfill the deepest longings of our hearts. But when we fear God — understanding his jealousy, how he will fight to bring us to himself — we find true fulfillment. He is a jealous God, but not with trapping, hurting human jealousy. He’s jealous because he created us and died for us — we belong to him. As his, we’re loved fiercely.

Lord, I give you my heart. Please open my eyes to any idols I have allowed in my life and give me the strength and wisdom to do away with them completely. Thank you for your jealousy. Amen.

Go Deeper — Today, write down how much time you spend at what. Before you go to sleep, think about the things that took most of your time and attention outside of work. TV? Computer games? Social media? ...God?

Read Further — In this digital world, we all have idols, and some are way too addictive.



Tags: God's Attributes Exodus 20
Photo Credit: Suket Dedhia