First Love

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.  But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:1-7

                Maybe you were five, or maybe you were twenty-five, but, most people remember their first “love.” Maybe you remember the pounding of your heart when that special someone entered the room. Remember the shy glances, the smiles? So hard to forget.

Maybe you felt a passion for Christ when you first came to know Him. Were you aching to share with the world how He changed you, made you whole, redeemed you? But somehow, the pounding in the heart once felt for Christ may have lightened. The smiles may have faded as we have gone about the business of working hard at “doing right”. The glances, no, gazes into the Word, have now turned away to other things, maybe not things that are intrinsically wrong, but things which steal our time and attention from Him.

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Take this time to stop and reflect: Have you lost the love you first had for Him? Was there a time when joy of learning more about Christ overflowed?

            Lord Jesus, my sweet Redeemer, I turn my gaze back to You now! Fill me with the passion for Your Word I once had. I repent that I have let that passion fade. Let my heart long for You, and my deeds follow, and not the other way around. Jesus, be my Victory!