First Love

Revelation 2:1-7

Do you think the majority of Christians are like the ones in Ephesus? I mean, they are doing all the stuff right. They have the deeds, they are working hard and persevering, they don’t tolerate wickedness, and they are even enduring hardships and not growing weary. Yet, there’s one thing wrong: they have forsaken their first love. Is it possible that the majority of Christians are not really in love with Jesus? Is it possible that they are just doing all the stuff that they feel like Christians are supposed to do? How can a person know that he or she really loves Jesus? Answer this question before you read on: Are you in love with Jesus?

I think it’s interesting that the Bible says in verse 4 that “you have forsaken your FIRST love.” Do you remember what it was like when you first fell in love? I do. I became like the biggest moron ever. I would talk about NOTHING all night on the telephone and then do the “no, you hang up“ thing. I would watch the dumbest chick flicks just to sit on the couch with her. I actually hand wrote letters. I didn’t mind spending the majority of my paychecks on dates with her. I used to make fun of people in love until I actually fell in love.

I didn’t love Jesus when I first got saved. I only wanted to NOT go to Hell. In fact, I now realize that I wanted to be able to do everything that the world did…you know…fornicate, drink, cuss, etc. However, just in case I died, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t go to Hell. Think about this…what if Hell wasn’t a part of the equation? Would you still serve Him? If you knew there was no such place as Hell, would you ever read your Bible? Would you ever go to church? If I had honestly believed that when I was sixteen…I probably wouldn’t have even gotten “saved.”

Sometime in my early 20’s God started pursuing me. Think about that…the God of the universe started pursuing ME! When I was just totally using him for my “get our of Hell free card,” He came after ME! All it took was a revival at an old school Church of God. I went, and I truly felt God’s presence. I thought “why in the world would He want anything to do with me?” However, I LIKED His Presence! I liked it a LOT! I liked it enough that I fell in love with Him. I went to church anywhere and everywhere the church doors were opened. I watched preachers on TV. I listened to them on the radio. I read my entire Bible over the next 15 months. I prayed. I took notebooks full of notes. I was in love.

I wish I could say that I kept that fire. I didn’t. Somewhere over the next few years my love for Him faded. Sure, I was still going to church, still reading my Bible, and by all appearances every person who saw me would have said that I was a “good Christian.” I didn’t realize it…but I had lost my FIRST love.

Tonya and I are six months away from being married 10 years. She still makes my heart race. When I know the kids are about to stay at their Nina and Papa’s and Tonya and I have a date planned, I look just as forward to it as I did when we first dated. I still learn new things about her and I love every minute of being married to her. The only way we will stay happily married is if we keep dating, keep learning about each other, and keep doing the things we did when we first fell in love.

The same is true with Jesus. Even though I lost my love for Him and was going through the motions, it was with Tonya that He drew me back to Him again. We went on a “date” to a church service 2 hours away. It was there that God’s Presence was manifested to me again. All I could do was just stand in awe with tears running down my cheeks. I loved it! I loved Him! I fell in love again. I can honestly say, after that experience I never looked back again. He is the first thing I think about in the mornings. I think about Him all day long. If it is possible, I want all of my conversations to be about Him. I used to love to talk about sports, because I loved sports. I used to want to talk about guitars, because I loved guitars. I used to want to talk about video games, because I loved video games. Now, I just want to talk about Him…because I love Him.

Do you?

Later

Adam