Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. (Romans 1:21-22)

Though God’s love toward us is undeserved, unconditional, and even unsought, it is still possible for us to fall out of harmony with Him. To keep ourselves in the love of God, as Jude 21 urges us, means to keep ourselves in a place where God can actively show His love toward us.  Take the prodigal son, for example. He rebelled against his father, went to a distant land, and did things he shouldn’t have done. Was he still his father’s son? Of course he was. Was he in a place where his father could actively show his love to him? No, he was not.

Though this loving father missed his son, longed after his son, and grieved over the young man’s rebellion, the prodigal was in a far country. He had removed himself from his father’s love, blessing, and protection. We, too, can do the same thing. We can still be children of God, but if we are out of fellowship with Him and His people, pursuing a path that we know violates His Word and breaks His heart, then we are not in a place where God can actively demonstrate His love toward us. So we must keep ourselves in a place where God can do that.

Keep yourself from all that is unlike God. Keep yourself from any influence that would violate His love and bring sorrow to His heart. Enjoy His richest blessings by making yourself “blessable.”