Guarded Love
Joshua 23:11
"Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God."
One of the great things to see is watching people fall in love with God. I love to watch someone get saved and see their love for God grow in a great way. On the other hand, one of the saddest things to see is someone's love for God begin to wane. Something or someone affected their love for God, and a love that used to be fervent is now cold. This is tragic!
In the verse above, God told Israel to "Take good heed...that ye love the LORD..." This is interesting because God was warning them to guard their love for Him. God didn't want anything affecting their love for Him. God knows there are many things that can steal someone's love. You must realize that just because your love for God is fervent today does not always mean that it will be fervent tomorrow. If you don't guard your love for God, then something will steal that love away.
There are two things that can steal a person's love. First, people can steal a person's love. Galatians 5:7 says, "Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?" Notice it is a "who" that hinders people and not a "what."You can get caught up with the wrong people and they will steal your love for God. This is why it is important that you run with the right crowd. I have watched it happen so many times that I get sick of it. I have watched people associate themselves with someone only to see that person steal their love for God. You must guard your associations closely and not allow them to steal your love for God. Don't let work associates steal your love. Don't let close friends steal your love. Don't let relatives steal your love. Closely guard your love so that no person can steal it.
The second thing that can steal someone's love is possessions. Jesus asked Peter in John 21:15, "...Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?..." Jesus asked Peter if possessions had stolen his love for Him. You must be careful that you don't allow possessions to become more important than your love for God. Money should never become more important than your love for God. Cars and homes should never become more important than your love for God. When any possession becomes more important that your love for God, then that possession has stolen your love. Guard your love for God so that nothing can steal it.
Let me take this thought in one other direction. Married couples need to be careful that they don't let anything or anyone steal their love from their spouse. When you got married you promised to love your spouse till death. You will never do this if you don't guard your love for them. Believe it or not there are people who will try to steal your love from your spouse for one night of pleasure. Don't let this happen! Guard your love for your spouse and NEVER let anyone become more important to you than your spouse. Likewise, don't let things become more important than your spouse. You can have all the things in the world and lose your spouse, and you will find out that those things don't mean that much. Don't ever let a possession become more important than your spouse. It is better to lose the possession than it is to lose your spouse.
When you love someone, whether it is God, your spouse, parents, children or a friend, there will be people and things that will try to steal your love. Guard your love so that these things don't steal it. When you choose to love someone, then you must guard that love that nothing would hinder or take it away. If you find someone or something has already stolen your love, then remove it so that your love can stay fervent for God and the one whom you chose to love.