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Who's Stealing from You?
Matthew 24:43
"But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up."
One of the most invasive things that can happen to you is to be burglarized. To know that someone broke in and invaded your property without your knowledge is very disturbing to say the least. Years ago when I was a teenager, I had my car stereo stolen from me. It was a summer morning, and when I went out to my car to go to work I noticed that my window was broken and that someone had ripped my stereo out of the dash. It is amazing after you have been burglarized how you come up with all kinds off ideas on how to punish a thief if they attempt it again.
That is exactly what Jesus was saying in the verse above. Jesus said, "...if the goodman of the house had known what watch the thief would come, he would have watched..." The goodman is talking about the leader of the home. It was sad that it was only after the goodman had his house burglarized that he became aware of the thief. The goodman should have been aware that there were thieves that would steal from him before he was burglarized. Instead, it wasn't until it his house was broken up that he became concerned about the thief.
This story of the goodman could be told over and over again in today's society. What many people don't understand is that their are thieves that are breaking up their homes on a daily basis. The sad part is, it isn't until after the home is broken that people become concerned about who's stealing from their family. You may think that your family is safe, but you better be careful about those things that could be stealing from your family. Don't wait until your family is broken to become concerned about the thief.
Let me caution married couples to watch out for the thieves that would break their marriages. Some of the thieves that break up marriages are: no time for each other; lack of communication; not meeting the physical needs of your spouse; dishonesty between each other; manipulation to get your way; getting involved with other people; wrong websites, etc. Watch your marriage so that you don't allow a thief to steal the relationship that you have with your spouse.
Likewise, there are thieves that would break your home. The family relationship is very important, and you must not let your home be broken before you become concerned about the thieves. Some of the thieves that break up a home are: television; wrong friends; never spending time with the family; video games; social networking; unfaithfulness to church; worldly activities, etc. I'm trying to get you to see that you must constantly be on the alert to watch out for thieves that would break up your home. Don't wait until your home is destroyed before you start becoming concerned with those thieves.
There is no way in this short devotional that I can deal with marriage and home thieves in a proper way. What I want you to do is stop, look at each area, and identify the thieves that are trying to break up your home and marriage. Don't let the destruction of your home and marriage be the thing that it takes to get you to be aware of the thieves that would steal from you. Secure your home and marriage from those thieves before they are broken up.