Mom Monday........."I am a jealous God."

I hope you all had a beautiful Mother's day either honoring or being honored.   I had a fun and interesting conversation with my 5 year old daughter on Mother's Day eve.  I was tucking her in bed, and she was exceptionally affectionate. As I was receiving many kisses from this precious little girl she said to me,   "Why do I have to love God more than you??? I want to love you more. I don't love him more than I love you. Why does he say I have to? He sounds jealous...'Love me, love me.' I don't want to. I want to love you more, mom."   Talk about honesty and struggle with God!!! It was soooo pure and simply the truth about what was going on in her heart.   We had had a conversation before about priorities and how God should always come first in our hearts and that He is the one we should love most.   "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life- he cannot be my disciple."  Luke 14:25   As wonderful as it is to receive this kind of love from our children, it is our job to help them fall more and more in love with Jesus. Our children were not made for us. They were made for Him;   " All things were created by him and FOR HIM.' Colossians 1:16   They were made to worship the Creator, not the created thing ( a mom.....that was ALL HIS IDEA.....He is the Creator of motherhood, us moms.........we are the 'created thing').....   "....they worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator." Romans 1:25   Most certainly, God desires moms to be honored and it is a beautiful thing to him to see children loving their parents, honoring and obeying them. However, God has made moms in His image to reveal some of HIS  characteristics . A mom comforts her child to show him/her that God is a comforter.   "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you."Isaiah 66:13   When I asked a friend what she really appreciated about her mom she said, "Her unfailing love."  Why can a mom love like that?  God has made many moms to reveal His Unfailing love:   " The earth is full of HIS UNFAILING LOVE." Psalm 33:5   "May your unfailing love be my comfort." Psalm 119:76   "What a man desires is unfailing love." Proverbs 19:22   As awesome as a mom can be, us moms are imperfect and we can fail our children. We are not God. We need to continually point them to the One who will not fail them.   " Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born? Though she may forget, I WILL NOT FORGET YOU. I HAVE ENGRAVED YOU ON THE PALMS OF MY HANDS." Isaiah 49:15 & 16   As far as God being "Jealous," Reese was absolutely correct in her observation.   " You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God , am a JEALOUS GOD." Exodus 20:5   "Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is JEALOUS, is a Jealous God." Exodus 34:14   May we do our best to reveal the characteristics of God to our children, but may we always point them to the "Creator."  May we encourage honest questions and  struggles from our children, allowing them the freedom to work their faith out. May we LEARN FROM OUR CHILDREN and be honest with God about our own hearts, questions, and struggles. May we remember that God is a jealous God and He alone should be number one in our lives.........even before our own moms, dads,  husband, children........only then does life work as healthy as it should. Blessings from Bombadil. Kristy Link    "I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." Phillipians 1:25 & 26