March 20
“’But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.’” (Revelation 2:4)
The verse above is Jesus speaking to the church at Ephesus, rebuking them for the fact that their love for Him wasn’t what it used to be. He warns them that unless they return and do the deeds they did at first, He would remove their lampstand, presumably referring to His rendering their church ineffective and no longer one that was moving and shaking and influencing and leading the Christian communities nearby and around the world.
He called them to repentance for the sin they had fallen into regarding leaving Him as their first love. It’s important to note that Jesus didn’t just say, “Please love me more,” but He rebuked them for the sin of leaving Him as their first love, and He called them to repentance for this sin. This is an important lesson for us. Who can’t say that to some extent they have left Jesus as their first love? Who among us can’t identify things on this earth that we have to some extent come to love and become attached to, whether it be material things or family or riches or personal notoriety or a life free from conflict and difficulty?
How many of us are as zealous for the Lord as we have ever been in our lives? Who among us is at a point in their lives where they are serving the Lord and risking all for Him more than any time in their past? I am sure there are some who are at the peak of their zeal, but probably most of us would not fit this description. Most of us if we are honest with ourselves would admit we have become comfortable or distracted by the things in this life and our love for Christ is not what it had been or what it ought to be.
I believe that many of us today would do well to heed these words of Jesus and repent of our sin of indifference toward Him and the way we take Him for granted. I think we need to repent of our deliberate quenching of the Spirit and saying no to what we know the Lord would have us do. I am convinced that there are very few of us that don’t need to repent of our laziness, our idolatry, our self-centeredness, our fears, and our covetousness.
I call you to join with me in repenting of these sins and daily asking the Lord to fill us with a love and zeal for Him that we have never known before, one that honors and glorifies Him, one that endures and grows stronger with each passing day for the rest of our lives. Would you join me in this prayer? Will you join me daily asking the Lord to fill us with a love for Him that is evident in our words and actions?
Tomorrow we will share more thoughts about leaving our first love.