What in the world does God have to be jealous of?

I remember spending some time with my sister and family when my nephew Max was about 3 years old.  We were visiting Disney World and making our rounds to the rides and attractions when suddenly Max let go of my brother-in-law’s hand and darted into the crowd, his attention drawn to something we had not noticed.  As Max wriggled away from us, we were at first stunned and then as we realized what was happening, my brother-in-law ran to him and picked him up, holding him tightly.  Max, of course, burst into tears at the suddenness and intensity of his father's action, while we three adults breathed a deep sigh of relief.  Max thought we were angry with him and became frightened.  We, on the other hand, were afraid of losing him or worse.  We knew the possible consequences of the cutest little boy in Disney wandering alone.  We understood that Max had not yet developed a healthy approach to strangers (he loved everyone, especially at Disney) and his childish naiveté frightened us. 

I believe it is the same for God and God’s creation – us. 

In the book of Exodus we read:  “I your God am a jealous God, bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation on the children of those who love me and keep my commandments.”  Our God is jealous of those other “Gods” we put ahead of the Creator – control, status, financial gain, good grades, the “in” crowd, the newest and best gadgets and technology, etc.  This list even includes family and friends from our spouse and children to supervisors and colleagues.  As beings created by God, the only response we can give with all integrity is to love God first, above all else. 

I don’t know about you, but this is not always easy for me.  I find it especially true when it concerns my family or community.  Certainly it can also be true in other areas, but often I justify my being consumed by family or community matters as so precious to me that surely God understands or even that God is with me in this.  God would expect me to give my heart, soul and being to an issue involving those I love.  Wouldn’t God?

The letter to the Corinthians offers some insight into “my” interpretation of God and what it means to worship a false God.  We are told: The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.  As I pray with this, I begin to have an inkling that my justification for being obsessed with or preoccupied by cares for others can be a smokescreen getting in the way of my deepening my relationship with God.  And after all, it is precisely because of this relationship that I am here on this earth and able to be in relationship with others.  If not for God’s overwhelming love for me, enough to have created me, I would not be able to reach out in love.

This creative and generative act on the part of God, I believe, is God’s best expression of God’s wisdom and strength.  It is this and only this that emboldens God to be so loving as to extend mercy to the thousandth generation to those who love God. All we have to do is love God in return.

I pray these Lenten days offer you some time and space to examine your attachments and preoccupations so that you might discern if your attention to them is in good proportion to your love and attention to God.  Remember, God's mercy is renewed every morning as the psalmist says.  It's never to late to re-calibrate the attachments of our hearts and souls. In God's eyes, each of us is the "cutest" boy or girl in all creation!