Adultery and Idolatry

When you allow someone to come between you and your spouse, it is called adultery.  When you enable someone or some THING to come between you and God - it is idolatry.  

If you say the two words out loud, they sound very similar… Maybe that is not a coincidence.

Throughout the Bible, God says to anyone that will listen, that He is a jealous God:

“Do not worship any other God, for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” - Exodus 34:14

“But Joshua said to the people, ‘You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God.  He is a jealous God…” - Joshua 24:19

“For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” - Deuteronomy 4:24

God tells us this because He wants us to know that HE wants to be the primary love of our lives.  He wants to be our #1.

So what kind of things do we allow to usurp God?  What things keep us from spending time with HIM?  What keeps us from church on Sunday, reading our Bible during the week, or saying prayers throughout the day?

When a couple allows someone to come between them, it often leads to divorce.  The same is true when we allow someone or something to come between us and God.

In the Hebrew Bible, as well as in the New Testament, God describes Himself as the husband of Israel using metaphorical language (Is. 54:5, Jer. 3:14) yet Israel often acted as an unfaithful spouse by committing metaphorical adultery and worshipping other Gods, forsaking her covenant Husband.  And then:

"I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries." - Jeremiah 3:8

The notion of God sending me "away", and divorcing Himself of me because I put other things before Him, is one that causes me to pause and evaluate my priorities; to examine whether or not my life reflects the things I say matter most.  

What about you?

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