Remember Your First Love

Scripture For The Day 

 March 21, 2023

 "Remember Your First Love" 

Moving on in our study of John, he shares with us the message from Jesus Christ, Himself, to the seven churches in Asia. Those messages transcend time and are not only applicable to those original seven churches but are also applicable to churches today as well as to individual Christians. We can find our church and even ourselves within one or all the letters.  Each letter has some common attributes. First, Jesus identifies Himself. Then He commends each church with ‘I know your…” letting those churches and us know that He knows all about us. But then the rebuke comes. Not all of them had the rebuke and not all rebukes were the same level. But most all need correction, just like we do. He strongly recommended each church (and us) to change in a specific manner. He finishes up by encouraging all of us to keep on keeping on; overcoming the weight of the world and avoiding obstacles that stand in the way of who He knows we can be. Every day is a new day to begin again and He encourages us to strive to do better than we did the day before. One of the most heartbreaking letters to me is the one addressed to the church of Ephesus. Jesus tells the church that He knows their works, their hard labor, and how they refuse to tolerate evil. But… here comes the rebuke… but you have abandoned your first love. This church assumed they were doing good. They were so caught up in the stuff they were ‘doing’ that they didn’t even recognize that they had left Jesus behind. He wasn’t talking about ‘showing’ the Love of Jesus. They were doing all kinds of ‘good’ works. But they forgot that it’s not about programs and food and junk. It’s about JESUS. It’s about loving Him enough to keep Him in the forefront. It’s about teaching Who He is. It’s about learning Who He is. It’s about recognizing Who He is.  I can’t help but wonder if John felt disappointed or ashamed. Remember, he was one of the pastors of this church for many years. Jesus tells them to “Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place.” This doesn’t mean they would lose salvation. This means that they would lose their light (Jesus being in the midst). They would lose, we could lose, that comfort in knowing we are striving and thriving with Jesus… unless they repent, unless we repent and change our ways. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing. Draw nigh to Him and He will draw nigh to you. But we must change our ways in order to get that forgiveness. How often do we allow ourselves to become focused on junk in our lives and in the church house? We allow programs or distractions to take away from teaching and preaching The Word of God. We lose the focus on what we should be doing by allowing ‘stuff’ to enter in. Stuff that might be harmless but distracts from what we should be doing. Stuff, that does nothing to promote Jesus but just wastes valuable time and resources. All your works mean nothing if the focus is not on Jesus. Have you forgotten your first love? Have you forgotten what it means to be all about Jesus? Are you allowing the world to enter your heart and into the church? Repent and get back to The Truth of JESUS and remember that Love of Him. Remember your first love. – Revelation 2