Love overtime, many times, becomes an expected convenience, and when love is expected to be there, it is rarely ever questioned, and in many cases, stops being searched for.
Love then, when this begins to occur, stops being love, and transforms itself in the mind of those I speak of here, into no more really then a casual acceptance, from a deep and abiding need to an expected familiarity where certain aspects of what was once love becomes really nothing more than an emotion that is nowhere close to what once was.
And in that, the latter part of John 14:15 begins to be expressed more fully than the former part. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
It is quite easy to see in many who have been married for any certain length of time, the infatuation dissipated long ago, the burning in the heart to spend every waking moment together is gone or faded so much that it becomes a rare moment. The anticipation of certain days approaching that once held loving memories of those “first moments” together, the restaurant, the song, the encounter, no longer hold any real significance.
But when it comes to that deep, abiding continual love for our Savior that is lost by some, it is a sad thing to witness indeed.
“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” (Prov. 8:17)
As in a marriage that has degenerated to that point, certain circumstances will cause one of them to attempt to regain that feeling, and that is what unfortunately happens to many who profess to serve the Lord, who profess to love Him, but have moved from love to a form of repetitiveness that no longer causes their heart to jump at the thought of Him.
How many people do you suppose do not even realize when the Lord has placed them in that dry and thirsty land? How many people remain married when love is no longer the reason to stay together, but a semblance of it that could in no way be considered love any longer? When love degenerates into convenience, then it never was love my friends, but only an infatuation that deceived the heart.
“Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zech. 1:3)
The last vestige of any marriage in regard to these truths is an attempt to return to that beginning, it cannot be recaptured. And there are many people who will realize that truth just a few moments after they take their last breath here in this life and be where they were not expecting to be.
If love is only realized after it is lost, then was it ever truly love?
True love needs the object of its love, life has little purpose without that object, the reason for the continuation of one’s existence is questioned when that object is removed.
How many people who profess to love the Lord Jesus Christ are living in that dry and thirsty land, and do not even recognize it as such?
Infatuation can turn into love, but it is rare. The continual search for the face of God, no matter where He places us, is love for Him who first loved us.