INTRODUCTION

God is a jealous God, but that jealousy is only manifested when men provoke the Lord through their unfaithfulness. Men can provoke the Lord through various means, but ultimately they all unite in the fact that they place something or someone else ahead of the Lord. The Lord does not want the leftovers of man’s time, love, money, and strength (Malachi 1:7-9 [7] Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. [8] And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. [9] And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.
See All...). Instead, He wants the first and greatest of man’s possessions. Anything less is idolatrous and offensive to the God who gave man everything he has. Each man must take a daily evaluation of his life to make sure that he is doing nothing to provoke the Lord to jealousy.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

• (For smaller children) Joshua challenged the people to serve God alone. Sadly they and the people after them did not keep their commitment but provoked God to judgment (Judges 3:5-7 [5] And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: [6] And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods. [7] And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
  See All...; Jeremiah 1:16And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
  See All...; Jeremiah 2:27Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
  See All...; Ezra 5:12But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.
  See All...; 2 Chronicles 36:15-20 [15] And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: [16] But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy. [17] Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. [18] And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. [19] And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. [20] And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
  See All...).
• Have you ever provoked the Lord to jealousy? How did you do so? Who or what did you put ahead of the Lord? Have you repented of this sin?
• What are some things that men commonly place ahead of the Lord? What might the Lord do in order to solve this problem? How can you avoid His chastening?

PRAYER NEEDS

• Thank the Lord for His grace and mercy.
• Ask God to help you live for Him and Him alone.

HYMN

Take Time to Be Holy

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