Safegaurd

"Abide in me, and I in you." John 15.4
This week as I have been continuing through the the Gospel of John in my daily devotions (I always liked the term "private worship" better) I came to this portion of Scripture and it struck me hard. The commentary from the ESVSB added further to this blow:
"Abide in me means to continue in a daily, personal relationship with Jesus, characterized by trust, prayer, obedience (see v. 10), and joy. And I in you is a phrase without an explicit verb, but it probably is an abbreviated way of saying, 'See that I abide in you'; that is, 'Safeguard your relationship with me so that I continue to abide fully in you.'"
What a struggle I (or we) am in daily to "safeguard" our relationship with Christ. Just as we must try to safeguard out relationship with our spouse by avoiding temptations that are thrown out there to us by the world, so too are there daily offerings from the world to our flesh that would deviate us from out walk with Christ. Reading this verse I am left feeling ashamed at the times that I have allowed myself to abide in things other than Christ, of how little I tend and cultivate my relationship with Him. Here He stands, the greatest lover of my soul, and I treat him so often as a mild acquaintance. I must confess, I oft surrender too easy to the force of current around me. We must fight to safeguard our relationship with Christ. It is our most blessed possession. Would you not fight for your relationship with you wife or children? Then why not your relationship with Christ. Oh, that I would greedily guard the time I had set aside for private devotions in His word. Oh that I were more faithful in keeping up with the fellowship of the body of my Christ. Of that hours were locked away from the world to allow for unbroken times of sweet labored prayer. That I were abiding in Him when considering time that could be spent in evangelism, telling others about my greatest treasure, Jesus!
Oh, Lord, hold me fast and never let me go. Steer my heart back to Your goodness. Give me the strength to resist the pulls of life. Make me deft to all calls but Yours. Be my all-in-all! In you do I desire to shelter. Increase my desire for You and shelter me, Lord. You are sweeter than all this life and world can offer. Amen.