Jealous love

"You shall have no other God's before me, 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." Ex. 20:3-4

The bible says that God is Love (1 John 4:8). Another way it translates is "God defines love" by who he is. This quality is inseparably linked to 'who' God is. Everything God does, says, commands, and performs is laced in love. It is the force behind all he does.

In love he has given us boundaries and commandments to lead us to life. One of the earliest recorded of these was the book known as Exodus. God tells man that he is not to put anything or anyone in the place where God should be. The reason being that no one or thing is like God, thus no one other than him can do ask good as a job as their master. Idols will only break our hearts, so God commands us to put him on the throne and be able to experience life with him as King. The Abundant life he designed us for

The bible also says he is a Jealous God (Ex. 34:14), he won't let an idol have his place among his people. His love is to strong to allow his people to endure an god who is not good. (As only he is). God knows that putting anything on the throne where only God should be will destroy the worshipper and what is being worshipped. Divine love will do whatever is necessary to destroy the idols of his people. Thus, he will destroy a job, a title, a unhealthy form of relationship, a bank account, or anything that he has to do to rescue his people from worshipping what will hurt them. His relentless love is too great to stand by and let us drink the poison we so often desire...

Music

After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

—Aldous Huxley

Music. There is something deeply stirring about music. It contains something that grips the inside of us, and brings forth a subtle reminiscence of familiar yet unknown beauty. I am not sure exactly what this is. Perhaps music reminds the soul of the rhythm and melody of a universe that was lost long ago. There are songs that the tune of which draw out emotions and pull our hearts to them even if there words are shallow or inapplicable to us. They carry us away to moments from our past, or longings for our future. Longings that we cannot even put into words. At times it feels as though they synchronize the pangs of the world and draw harmony to the chaos around us.

Imagine a world without music today. What a world that would be. Then imagine in this music less world what it would be like if someone introduced you to it for the first time. What a price we would pay to have music fill our existence. Millions of dollars would undoubtedly be paid just to hear something break the silence of our souls...but because music is everywhere I can so often grow numb to the life and wonder it breaths. Martin Luther said well: "the riches of music are so excellent and so precious that words fail me whenever I attempt to discuss and describe them.... next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits...A person who... does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs."

I have heard it said that music is the language of the Angels... I don't know if this is true... but it is certainly a taste of something divine, something beyond this world... and yet strangely present in it. Perhaps creation was sung into existence as one author put it... and every time a note is played it reminds us of the beauty that began our world.