Your love for Jesus will cause you to give up this • Deshen Daily

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold (Matthew 24:12, KJV)

The Spirit of the Lord has poured out His love in our hearts to reciprocate in loving Him because He first loved us. As Christians, loving our Lord Jesus is embedded in our very nature. Jesus spoke the words of the verse above, and interestingly, He was talking about the times we are living in. It was a prophecy about our days. He said the “the love of many shall wax cold”. Notice that this is not talking about the love of the world for Jesus, because the world does not love Him in the first place. It is the love of those who love Him, that is, His people. But why will the love of those who love Jesus grow cold? He says it is because “iniquity shall abound”. Sin will multiply and cause the love of some Christians to grow cold.

A good question to ask here is “why?”. Why should sin dampen our love for Jesus? Hebrews 11:25 gives us an answer to this question “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25, KJV). There is pleasure or enjoyment in sin. This should not be a surprise to any of us because the reason sin has so many followers is because there are pleasures associated with it. Your love for Jesus will cause you to give up the pleasures of sin. The men reading this, for example, will have days you will see a very beautiful woman who is not your wife and you will have to give up the pleasure of having a relationship with her because of your love for Jesus. Those who do not love Jesus as such will give in, and their love for God will grow cold. There are some of you reading this devotional who have given up the pleasure of enjoying luxuries in life by refusing to steal money because you love Jesus. I have heard of Christian sisters who love the Lord and have lost job promotion opportunities because they refuse to give in to the sexual demands of some promiscuous boss.

Yes, there is pleasure in sin and that is why it is very popular. The way of sin is very broad, therefore has many fans.However, there is a price that comes with that pleasure. At the end, it bites like a snake. There is pleasure in sin, but there is greater pleasures in the presence of God! Get comfortable with the fact that the pleasures of sin are not for you, child of God. Do not sell Jesus for 30 pieces of silver as Judas did. Do not sell Him for that woman, man, activity, behaviour, places you go to or things you watch, hear, etc that grief His heart. He loved you and died for you. He is worth more than everything else. Moreover, He has greater pleasures for you!

MEDITATE

What comes to your mind as a pleasure of sin that you consider surrender because of your love for Jesus?

APPLY THE WORD

The pleasure of sin or sinful things is causing the love of many believers to grow cold.Love not the world. Do not let this prophecy be fulfilled in your life in these strange days we are living in.

PRAY

Ask the Spirit of the Lord to enable you to keep your love for Christ always on fire and reject every enticement or pleasures sin is offering to bring you into its net.