cheating Jesus

I have begun to take a fresh look at the truth that God is a Jealous God. That from the beginning, He has been clear that there would be no other God’s but Him and that He will ask for the very things that threaten that….our loves, what we worship and serve. (gen 12) We also looked at what He would do if we do forsake Him as our ONLY love…that He will visit that iniquity on 3 and 4 generations behind us. And that if we do love Him like that-that He will bless by the thousands.
The question is…do we believe what He says is true? Do we believe that the best, most loving thing and the thing we can do to most bless God and those things we love is LOVE HIM ONLY, so we can love other rightly. Do we believe He IS jealous and will do what HE said?
I have been thinking about the friction we feel and how it feels wrong to cheat on our families with Jesus. We struggle with the idea of letting go because HE gave it. And yet the very thing HE gave we have worshipped, served, obeyed and loved more than Him. We somehow justify that it is okay to cheat Jesus, particularly if it is with something He blessed and gave.
And the Lord took me to the verse that is rocking my world.
2 Cor 11:2-4
2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you {as} a pure virgin.
3 But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity {of devotion} to Christ.
4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear {this} beautifully.

Wow….we have been betrothed, married to and given/taken to One, that is Christ. And yet, we think it is okay to step out on Him. Much like Eve, we have been led astray by the craftiness of the serpent who deceived us into thinking it is okay to LOVE something other than God with ALL and have been led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to CHRIST-our husband.
Simplicity. I love that word…it means singleness. Our SINGLE simple devotion is CHRIST.

We were betrothed and given to CHRIST. He is our single, simple, pure devotion.
He says, that if we do not embrace this, then we have accepted, received and listened to a different gospel than that of Jesus. We will have trusted in something that is not real.

Perhaps it is time to reevaluate and to ask if we have been deceived. God is a jealous God and will not share, will not accept our leftovers. He was clear…He wants ALL and there is both blessing and cursing that comes if we obey or don’t. But the crux of it is that if we do not live as if we understand His jealousy and are betrothed to HIM, we have embraced a false gospel.

So while we struggle with the friction, but perhaps our lives look more like us cheating on Him with the things He has given, than us cheating on them with Him. And perhaps, He is just coming back to claim what is rightfully His-His bride. Where are we stepping out on HIM? Isn’t that the real question?
ALL FOR YOU