Returning to Our First Love (Part III)

To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:  “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.  Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.  But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolatians, which I also hate.

 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ Revelation 2:1-7

In the last two devotionals, I have been sharing about some of the factors that can cause us to leave our first love. Lack of consistency is another factor in leaving our first love. We can’t afford to take our relationship with the Lord for granted and assume that without effort it can remain strong and healthy!

Faithfulness is a marathon of consistency

To be faithful, we need to remain in a position of faith and obedience. By its sheer nature consistency cannot be achieved unless it is practiced over a long period of time. Any relationship can start out very easily and joyfully but maintaining a healthy and strong relationship over the decades is the challenge.

The best example of a long term relationship that requires consistency is a marriage relationship. People start out in their relationship to one another all excited and optimistic about their future together. At the beginning of their relationship, couples like to spend every waking hours with each other. However, over the years, the busyness of life, the demands of parenting, the pressure of finances all start straining the relationship. Couples begin to argue more and forgive less. They develop other friendships outside of marriage to have a retreat or a venting place. They take each other for granted and begin fanaticizing about freedom of being single! Over time, couples can grow apart while they still stay together.

Maintaining a strong and healthy relationship takes work. In the case of a marriage relationship it takes two imperfect people making the commitment to work with each other and with the Lord to succeed in their marriage. However, in the case of our relationship with the Lord, since one party is perfect, the burden of leaving the first love falls on our shoulders. The Lord is always willing and available to walk with us. His love for us does not change but our love for him does change. Sometimes we bring other lovers in the midst that take our attention away from him.

If being used by God becomes the center of our focus, the enemy will even use that desire to subtly draw us away from the Lord!  We may think we are putting our Lord and His Kingdom first but we really are putting our significance in the Kingdom first!

What is the solution to all of this? Jesus told the church of Ephesus to repent and return to her first love.

Thank you Lord for pointing out where we have fallen from our place of intimacy. Forgive us when other things or people have eclipsed your presence in our lives. Please return to us the joy of our salvation and help us enjoy our time and relationship with you above all other lovers.

Here is a great worship song to make your commitment to Him:

“Come Make War” by Rick Pino. You can watch it on YouTube if you can’t watch it from here.