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.
Revelation 2:2-6 NIV
There was a lot that the Ephesian church was doing right. They were hard working people who persevered and even endured hardship for the sake of Christ's name. But, they had an issue.
The issue was one I think we must all confront if we have walked with the Lord for any length of time. It's when what you do starts to be more important than the one you do it for. "You have forsaken the love you had at first." When you are first saved, you realize the depth of your own spiritual poverty. You just know you need Jesus. Isn't it true that at times we forget what is important is that we just love Jesus. We have no idea what's going to happen or how it's going to happen, we just believe that Jesus will work things out. So, we try to love. We forgive that person who hurt us so deeply. We stop trying to defend ourselves and just make up our minds to be more Christlike. We look to the Lord realizing that it only matters what he thinks of us and if we know we are trying to love others like he loved us.
Listen. There is a big difference between when I first gave my life to Christ and now. I was a kid and now I am an adult. I was single and now I am married and have four children. Trusting God for a family is a whole different level of maturity. But, it's still trusting God and being Christlike. I friend of mine says, "I got married and than I began to realize I was selfish. I had kids and then I knew I was selfish." My first love was simply total dependance on Christ. My first love was realizing that everyone around me, like me, needed Jesus. My first love now is still the same. Everyone around me still needs Jesus. Frankly, I used to wake up and I would have to go someplace (like work) before I encountered someone. Now, I wake up to a house full of people who need Jesus' love from me. Then I go to work and there is more people who need his love. My first love was and is just trying to love like Christ loved me...
How did you first love Christ? Do you need to go back?
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