Leaving Our First Love. . . . . .

Revelation 2: 1-5

“Unto the Angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things sayeth he that holdeth the seven stars  in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.

I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them who are evil; and thou hast tried them who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars;

And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.

Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Remember,  therefore, from where thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent.”

I was reading the following quote recently: “Submitting to God becomes easier as we conform to His character.  Nobody comes into a life giving relationship with Jesus and stays the same.  Nobody.  If nothing has changed and you have stayed the same, somewhere along the way you have disconnected from the vine.  Examine yourself.”  (Author Unknown). I will add that if nothing has changed over a period of time, and we become stagnant, and satisfied, with a tepid relationship with God, we are drifting away from our First Love.

There is a deep abiding hunger in the heart of all mankind that can only be filled by the Presence of God, by spending time with Him and being touched by Him and touching Him.   We are deceived into thinking that all the things (aka as works) we do are fulfilling our responsibility of being with the Lord.  They are not.  The Lord reviewed the labor and the works of the church of Ephesus, acknowledging their faithfulness.  However, He longed for them to love Him with the same passion and fervor they had when they first knew Him.  This is still the heart of God.  He wants an intimate, loving, moment by moment relationship with each of us.

I woke recently with a chorus on my mind:

More of you, more of you,

I’ve had all but what I need, just more of you;

Of things I’ve had my fill, and yet I hunger still,

Empty and bare, Lord hear my prayer,

For more of you.

When we are introduced to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, and we respond to the wooing of the Holy Spirit to “come unto me,  all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest”, (Matthew 11:28)  we enter into a love relationship with God.  The Holy Spirit woos us and always points us to Jesus and Jesus always points us to the Father.   The Word tells us that we are a Bride and Jesus is our Bridegroom. He gave Himself for us on the cross and his death, burial and resurrection opened up the way of salvation for us to forever be with the Lord.

We need to realize that everything recorded in the scriptures ultimately leads us to the place of our union with Christ.   We are betrothed to Christ which means we are engaged to be married, we are in love: a person who loves someone or is loved by someone and they have made a promise to enter into a covenant with the other person.  In biblical times, the timeframe was usually one year.   During that time, they pined for one another, they dreamed of being together, they longed for the moment they would enter into marriage and be forever with each other.  Christ is our Rose of Sharon, our Lily of the Valley our Bright and Morning Star, the Fairest of Ten Thousand to our Soul.  He is Altogether Lovely. The Book of  Solomon speaks to the love of Christ for His Bride: “Thou hast ravished my heart (made my heart beat faster), my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished  my heart with one of thy eyes, with one chain of thy neck.”  Song of Solomon 4:9.  “He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” Song of Solomon 2:4

We were in church with a wonderful elderly couple many years ago in Mississippi.  They were very much in love and it was evident in all they did and said.  She told me about needing to go to another state once and care for a relative for a week and they were separated.  When the day came for him to pick her up,, she said she was sitting in the home listening for him to arrive.  When she heard the doorbell ring, she said her heart skipped a beat as she jumped up to welcome him.  I recall thinking what a beautiful picture of us waiting and watching for our Lord to come for us.  This couple had been married a long time but their love was as vibrant as the day they were first married.  They never let the flame go out.  That is what the Lord wants from us.  We need to be excited at the prospect of His arrival and keep the flame of love burning, anticipating His return.

When God speaks to John the Revelator about the Church at Ephesus leaving their first love, he is talking about them losing their passion, their longing, their fervor for the Lord.  I do not think Christ is coming back for a tepid Bride.  He is coming for a Bride who is consistently watching and longing for His return.

I started this blog with a quote asking that we examine ourselves.  Are we longing for the Lord to return? Are we spending quality time with Him, talking and listening, praising and worshiping Him? Or has our love grown cold and become a ritual?  Are we being busy about the things of the Lord and neglecting Him?

The beauty of this One we love is that He is patient and kind, loving and tender, and His arms are outstretched to welcome us back to Himself.

As the Bride of Christ, we must rekindle the fire of our First Love.  His return is closer than it has ever been.  The time is quickly coming when we will be with Him throughout eternity.

Maranatha!