Commandments

Is being jealous ever a good thing? Doesn’t jealousy lead to envy? Isn’t it wrong to want what others have? When someone demonstrates jealousy in a relationship, don’t we see it as a bad thing? So why does God say that he is a jealous God?

The Tuesday before the cross was a busy day for Jesus. Three groups of people came to him with questions. Their queries aimed to trap Jesus in a contradiction or statement they could use against him. Jesus' popularity was getting out of hand, and the religious leaders planned to put a stop to it.

Fear God. Scripture uses that phrase (or similar phrases like “the fear of the Lord”) three hundred times. It sounds a bit ominous, doesn’t it? How do I approach One I am to fear? Can I truly love a person I am afraid of? How do living in fear of God and loving God mesh? And how do grace and fear fit together?

He makes the confusing clear and the complex simple. He sums up the entire Old Testament with these two commands. Now all that’s left is the application.

Fear God (live a life of worship), keep His commandments (He knows what He’s talking about), and don’t forget the judgment (one day we will give an account before God).