Don't Play Me

 32,000 hours of pregnancy

3,650 days of nursing babies

5 times experiencing the "terrific toddler stage"

15 years of homeschooling

1000's of hours wiping butts and kissing booboo's 

100's of stomach bugs and hours of cleaning up vomit

20 years of 3 meals a day plus 5 snacks

100's of thousands of dollars feeding and clothing and paying for sports

Hundreds of hours of practices and cheering at games

Endless love and support and care

AND never counting the cost because that's who I am...

I am mom to 5 of the most amazing, wonderful human beings on this planet and there is NOTHING on this earth I would rather be...  

BUT DON'T PLAY ME... If there is one thing about me that everyone needs to know... I'm a jealous mom.  I will NEVER share my position or place in my children's lives.  

And THAT is the exact message that God sent Elijah to proclaim to King Ahab and the children of Israel.  

Then Elijah said to the people, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is GOD, follow Him.  But if Baal, follow him. 

Exodus 34:14 tells us that God had warned the people of His jealous nature when He spoke through the prophet Moses "For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, WHOSE NAME IS JEALOUS, is a jealous God." 

The word jealous has some negative connotation in our modern society but this definition gives us a clearer explanation of what it means to be "righteously jealous".  

Jealous- fiercely protective or vigilant of one's rights or possessions.

Israel was God's possession.  He had birthed this nation in Genesis through the patriarch Abraham and He had redeemed them out of their Egyptian captivity with His righteous right hand.  He had led them safely through the wilderness and fed them manna from heaven.  And when He led them across the Jordan river into the land, they were to take possession of He renewed His covenant with them as His chosen people.  God told the people through Joshua to REMEMBER (keep in mind) that He alone was their provision, and He alone was their protection. And He warned them what would happen if they turned to other gods.

When He told Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua and the children of Israel that He was the LORD God and that he was their GOD He was telling them I'm the One who made this world and everything in it.  I'm the One who sends the rain and makes the land fruitful.  I'm the One who increases you and causes you to multiply.  I am your Shield and your Rock.  And He reminded them that He would share that glory with NO ONE, especially not dead gods made from their own hands.  He wouldn't share honor with gods who could not hear their cries or their praise.  He would not share His glory with gods who had no eyes to see, gods that were impotent and incapable of blessing or cursing.  He was reminding them that He was a jealous God worthy of ALL of their praise.  

In Genesis 17 God made a promise to Abraham, "I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless.  I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.... It is a permanent covenant to BE YOUR GOD and the God of your offspring after you, and to you and your future offspring I will give all the land of Canaan as a permanent possession, AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD."  

When my children were little, we didn't participate in the wonder that is santa claus.  I had my reasons...  but the biggest reason of all was I would NOT allow some fictional guy from some far away land to get the credit for the gifts that my husband and I had given them.  No way in this world would I let my children believe one for hot second that someone else had blessed them in such an extravagant way.  

Just like the fictional santa, the little (g)ods of the nations around Israel were not responsible for the land flowing with milk and honey.  They were not responsible for the rain that produced bountiful harvests, and they were not responsible for the protection that the children of Israel had enjoyed in their new land. GOD was about to remind them of that very fact when He sent Elijah to deliver a message, that the heavens were going to be shut up and the dew would no longer be on the grass.

GOD was pronouncing judgement on the false gods they had aligned themselves with and HE sent a clear reminder of just WHO was worthy of their worship, praise and allegiance.

Our GOD is a jealous God and with every right.  We are His people.  We are His inheritance bought with a very great price... the blood of His one and only son, Jesus.  By His stripes we have been healed and by His wounds we have been forgiven.  We have been accepted into the family of God, adopted by our Heavenly Father, blessed and sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.  We have been given all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus and Jesus even promised that we could ask for anything in His NAME.  With all that we have been given in Christ... 

May our hearts cry out, "The LORD, He is GOD, The LORD, He is GOD!", as the people of Israel did that day that Elijah stood before them and called down the fire from heaven and commanded them to REMEMBER.

"Blessed be the Lord, Who DAILY loads us with benefits, The GOD of our salvation!" Psalms 69:19