Today Daily Devotional

Jealousy is not usually a pleasant thing to see. People who are jealous usually feel badly about themselves, so they easily see others as rivals they cannot tolerate. They feel threatened by people who are more popular, or by people who have achieved more than they have.

But God’s jealousy is different. The Lord who called Abraham and his descendants (Israel) to be his people is the one true God. And through Jesus, the Savior, this same God calls us to be part of his family. You are my people, and I am your God, he says. You are my own, and you shall have no other. This is good because God loves and always wants what is best for us.

Now God is following up on his command that we love only him. God declares that he will be jealous if we ever give our love, worship, or obedience to another. Any other thing that we might place ahead of God in our lives is an idol, a god that draws our attention away from the love and care of our Creator and Savior. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, God has saved us from certain destruction.

Aren’t you glad God is jealous for you, like a truly loving spouse? Our God is a jealous God, who fiercely loves those who love him, and who show their love by keeping his commands.

I often wondered how the ancient Israelites could be so daft. They took a rock or a piece of wood, carved an image on it, and then bowed down to it as a god. Really?

Then I checked my wallet. Money is made from paper, which is made from wood pulp. I looked around my neigh­borhood. The houses are made of wood and stone. Maybe the only difference between us and ancient idol worshipers is that our idols today could have a longer production process.

It is disturbing to realize how good we are at making idols. We can make them out of any physical thing. We can even create them out of thin air. For example, we can claim to be righteous on the basis of our political views. We can worship a sports franchise. We can devote our lives to the service of a corporation. Such idols are also known as ideologies, or “isms.” Our ability to create such gods is unlimited. Anything that we attach our ultimate desire to, whether physical or conceptual, can be an idol, a god.

But these idols are not the Lord God, the one who delivered Israel from Egypt, the one who freed us from our slavery to sin. Only this God moves through history with his people. This is the one who created us. We cannot and must not create another.

The Lord who claims our allegiance is God, our Creator and Savior.

God delivered Israel when he brought them out of Egypt. They had been slaves there for hundreds of years. Faithful to his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:13-21; Exodus 3), God called this people his own and continued his work of making them into a nation through which all other nations would be blessed. Then, many years later, through Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, God brought salvation to the world—and today God includes all who believe in Christ as his people, his worldwide family. So if we believe in Christ, we belong to God, and we are his alone.

As 1 Peter 2 puts it, we are a holy nation set apart to be “God’s special possession.” From the beginning, it was love that created us and has bound us to God. And since our relationship with God is based on love, God’s law is not a burden but a means of showing that love.

A Reformation-era catechism rejoices and takes comfort in the fact that we belong to God, our Creator and Savior:

“Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

“A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”

“The Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” This description was unusual in such ancient times. Almost without exception, the gods of other nations were gods of something. Ra was the Egyptian god of the sun, Baal was the Canaanite god of the storm, and so on. But the Lord is God over all things in heaven and on earth.

It is a relief to serve the one God who exists independently of heaven and earth. For whenever we desire something that is a part of heaven or earth, it will disappoint our deepest longings.

St. Augustine said, “One who seeks what he cannot obtain suffers torture, and one who has got what is not desirable is cheated, and one who does not seek for what is worth seeking for is diseased. Happiness occurs only when man’s chief good is both loved and possessed.” In other words, if we seek bad things, we will cheat ourselves. If we seek what we cannot have, we will torture ourselves. If we do not seek out what is worth finding, we will be diseased. Only seeking and finding the one true God can satisfy the desire of the human heart. This is why the command to love God above all else is really the key to happiness. Seeking the greatest good and finding it in God frees us from the love of other things that are unworthy, unobtainable, or inferior.

John is saying here that we need a reality check—regularly.

Do we say we are children of God? Show it!

Are we saying what is right but doing what is wrong? Are we talking about love but acting out in anger and bitterness?

Sadly, what we do is the reality, not what we say.

What is the proof that we are children of God? It is this: Do we act in love toward our brothers and sisters? Ouch. I admit there are a few people I don’t think much of, not to mention loving them. This text can even make me question whether I am truly God’s child.

So in the face of this question, I must cry out for grace: “No, Lord, I do not always do what is right, nor do I always love my brother or sister. Please forgive me. Give me Christ’s righteousness and love.”

And this is what John is writing about. Earlier in this letter he says: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

The will of God is found in God’s law. Whoever does the will of God keeps the law of God. This passage written by Jesus’ disciple John ties keeping the law of God to gaining life everlasting. This provides great comfort for all who keep God’s law.

It is interesting that John contrasts love for the world with love for God. One passes away, but the other goes on forever. We foolishly desire the passing things that the world offers instead of the everlasting will of God. The will of God extends beyond this temporal world. A missionary who was later martyred summed it up well: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.”

So if you are pursuing the world and its desires—success in business, a glowing reputation, sexual satisfaction, power, and so on—be warned, they will all pass away.

But the person who does the will of God will live forever. God’s law, which tells us to love him and our neighbor, is his everlasting will. It carries forward into the next world.

If we need motivation for keeping the law of God, there is no motivation greater than this. Do you desire life everlasting? Then do the will of God and live forever.

Obeying God’s law will make you a target of Satan. Sorry to bring bad news, but it is true, and it makes sense. Satan is the lawless one. Satan—the great dragon, the serpent, the tempter—rebelled against God, who is right and just, who wrote his law into the universe.

Satan knows who all the followers of Christ are. We are “those who keep God’s commands” and hold to the testimony about Jesus. We are not wearing moral camouflage. We are recognized as followers of Christ because we aim to live by God’s law of love.

So Satan is constantly after us. He tempts us. He mocks us. “What, you think you need to be sexually pure? How naïve.” “You think you need to give one day a week to God? You’ll never get ahead.” “You think you need to tell the truth, even when you’re online? No, online communication is different.” There is no end to the ways Satan can tempt us. Ever since he broke the law of God, he searches for others to join his rebellion. And that happens when we leave the path of God’s truth and follow the lies of Satan.

As long as you live, Satan will tempt you to turn away from God. And we turn away if we ignore or disobey God’s law. This is the battle of our lives.

Love and law are nicely united in this text. The word of God that we are called to obey is the law of God. When we obey it, God’s love is made complete in us—because we are living by God’s law of love.

This is pleasantly simple, and circular. What shall I do? Whatever the law says I should do. How shall I show my love for God? By obeying the law found in God’s Word. What happens when I obey God’s law? The love of God is made complete in me.

Seen in this way, the Christian life is really not mysterious. We don’t have to wonder and fret about what God’s will might be. We can find directions in the Word of God, especially in his law. We may have to examine which words apply to what we are doing, but the directions are always there for us. Does our question have to do with honesty, or sexual fidelity, or our use of time? The law of God has directives for these and other circumstances.

Do you know someone who truly seems to be full of the Spirit of Christ? I’ll bet that person isn’t a lawbreaker. I’ll bet that person has long understood that obeying God’s law is a simple and direct way of getting close to God.

What about you? Has God’s love been made complete in you?

This text is called the Shema by Jews. Shema is the Hebrew word for “Hear this!” or “Listen!” This command from Deuteronomy is at the heart of Judaism. Many Jews facing extermination in Nazi camps during World War II quoted this text as they were about to be killed.

There is one God. God exists independently of this world. God made this world. God loves this world. God is the one we should love most.

What do you love most? What do you desire most? Whatever that is will define who you are and what you do.

In his parting words to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy, the prophet Moses leaves no doubt about loving God most. He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Every aspect of life must aim toward the love of God, even our wallet, our sex life, and our hobbies.

If you love the true God, you will follow his commands with every aspect of your life. In so doing, you will free yourself from the disappointment of serving false gods.

It is not surprising that this text is the principal command for God followers. It directs our entire life.

I am a father and a grand­father. I like to think that I would readily lay down my life to save my child or grandchild if necessary. I’m sure other parents and grandparents would do the same. But am I willing to die for a friend?

I can think of some very good friends who are a treat to be with. But I can’t think of one that I would readily die for. That would take a level of love beyond what I have attained.

It would be rare, as Romans 5 says, for a person to give up their life for someone who is good—not to mention one who is not.

And yet “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And “while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.” Jesus’ self-sacrifice was the ultimate demonstration of love for others. He called his disciples friends, and he has shown all of us that he is the best of friends.

Given the difficulty of Jesus’ sacrifice, I can understand why Reinhold Niebuhr called such love “the impossible possibility.” Only in Christ, the Son of God, who emptied himself to come and die in our place, is such love possible. And only through Christ can we even come close to living out the possibility of such love.