Your Lord cares deeply for your love, believer. He chose you and can't stand the thought of you choosing another. He bought you with His own blood and struggles with the idea that you belong to yourself or this world. He loves you so much that heaven wouldn't suffice without you. He'd rather die than see you lost, and He can't bear anything coming between your heart and Him.

He's protective of your trust. He won't allow you to lean on human strength. He won't stand for you turning to broken wells when His fresh and abundant fountain is right there for you. He rejoices when you rely on Him, but when you put your trust elsewhere, in your own wisdom or even a friend's, or worst, in your own works, He is displeased and will correct you to bring you back to Himself.

He's also protective of your company. No one should be dearer to you than Jesus. True love stays close to Him. But when we spend more time with the world or find comfort in earthly things, or even prefer the company of fellow Christians over intimate moments with Him, it grieves our Lord. He desires that we abide in Him and enjoy constant closeness.

Often, the trials He sends help us shift our hearts from worldly distractions to center them on Him. Let His desire to keep us close be our comfort. If He loves us enough to care about our love, He will surely protect us from harm. May we have the grace today to keep our hearts devoted to Him alone, rejecting the allure of the world.