WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD...who are you protecting on your watch?

Having relationships with people can be made up of many things, including joys, sorrows, successes and failures. When you think of your closest relationships, say with your spouse or your children, the furthest thing from your mind is for it be a battleground. Sometimes in our relationships, we have to be able to choose our battles!

Face it, the enemy lurks around every corner to try to trip us up and confuse us and to leave us with our guard down. The place I see this happening the most is in our relationships. Just like the jewelry store that is guarded by security to protect the valuable goods inside, we must stand guard over the precious valuables that God has entrusted with us in our relationships.

Sometimes the lurking thief will not be so noticeable, it may come looking attractive and desirable but it's main goal is to undermine your love and appreciation for those closest to you. In your marriage, the thief may come to lure your heart away by offering unrealistic comparisons or unhealthy desires. When it comes to our relationships, we must put on the armor and pick up the sword to protect against such attacks.

 In last weeks YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question, "When you think of PROTECTION, what do you think of?" The top 2 answers were:

1. 83% of those voting said that they think of God when it comes to protection.

2. 16% of those responding said they think of Police.

Protecting your loved ones against physical harm is one thing, but how can we protect our relationships against spiritual and emotional scarring? Too many relationships are infected with crippling parasites. A parasite is anything that will latch on and suck the life out of you! The kind of parasites I am talking about are the kind that suck good things out of your relationship. Parasites like addictions, gambling, drugs and pornography. These things will not only steal the loyalty from your relationships but it will infect the hearts of those you love the most. Protecting our loved ones does not stop with installing a burglary system in our homes, we must protect the heart as well.

The Bible speaks about this protective role.

EZEKIEL 34:8 "the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed the flock."

The shepherds took extra good care of their own needs and fed their own appetites but they gave little to no thought to the safety of those under their supervision. We each have been given a responsibility to care for and nurture someone, whether its your spouse, your children, your aging parents or an unsaved loved one.

In Matthew 24 it suggests that if the head of the house had known that the thief was coming in the middle of the night, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into...We each have charge over someone, the role is ours to protect them. We must take our watch seriously!