Our First Love
“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.” Revelation 2:4-5 (NIV)
In the verses before Revelation 2:4, the church in Ephesus was commended for several things: Their hard work, their endurance, their desire for truth. But Jesus had one major issue with them - they had left their first love for Him.
The house was a large, seventy-five year old stone house in Houston. One room was done in rough wooden board with soft leather chairs and matching sofas. In the room was a small library and major sound system. In the center of it all was a fireplace. On that fireplace were some words carved into the mantle.
IF YOUR HEART IS COLD
MY FIRE CANNOT WARM IT.
How true!
No fire can warm a cold heart. A cold heart can only be warmed by the fire of the living God. In the same way, we won’t love our neighbors if we don’t love God.
“We love because He first loved us…And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” 1 John 4:19, 21 (NIV)
So, in order to love our neighbor, we need to take an inventory about our love for God.
WE ALL HAVE BLIND SPOTS.
In Revelation 2, we discover that the church in Ephesus had lots of things going for it. In fact, it sounds like a pretty amazing church! But there were blind spots. And the key issue was a heart issue. They had left their first love. Were they busy? Yes. Were they standing for truth? Yes. But along the way they left what is most important…their love for Jesus.
The pandemic has caused us all to drift, struggle, and get off-track spiritually. How do we get back on track? Return to our first love.
JESUS WILL PURSUE US.
In this passage, Jesus corrects the church in Ephesus. Today, it is easy for us not to listen to anyone else. We say things like: That’s your truth. That’s your opinion. I’m not going to take responsibility for that. But Jesus helps us see that our relationship with Him means everything.
How do we return to our first love?
REPENT AND DO WHAT YOU DID AT FIRST.
Repent simply means to make a turn. A 180-degree turn away from our cold heart that does the same old, same old, and repent. If we grow cold toward the Lord, He will get our attention, He will pursue, He will correct. Why? Because nothing is more important.
CONSIDER HOW MUCH JESUS LOVES US.
When has Jesus ever lost His first love for you and me? How Jesus loves us!
One of my habits I try to always do is to tell the Lord at the end of the day: I love you. It helps me remember all He has done for me. He gave His life for me on the cross. He remains faithful to me, even when I am faithless. He guides me. He strengthens me. He gives me grace and help. He never leaves me.
He has never left His first love for me.
ASK GOD TO HELP YOUR COLD HEART.
Here’s a great prayer to pray: “Lord, keep my heart warm toward You. Stop me when I go full speed toward stuff I think will make me happy. Guard me from this stupid tendency to substitue things for You. Help me return to my first love for You. I thank You that Your love for me has never dwindled.”