Returning to your first love does not happen without effort on your part, but God will give you grace to follow through. The use of the word work indicates effort is required. In the words of John Wesley: “Don’t seek after a ministry rather, anticipate the fruit of a disciplined life.” The result is we skip right over the more fundamental spiritual disciplines intended to strengthen our most important relationship-our relationship with God. Oftentimes, as we grow in our knowledge of the Bible and God’s expectations of us as His followers, we become busy, distracted, even consumed, with other “good works” toward our relationships with others. These first works often include basic spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible study, meditation, giving, fasting, and serving. In other words, return to the activities of the faith that you were zealous to do when you first came to the Lord and wanted to spend time getting to know Him. Then, after remembering and repenting, renew your commitment to do the first works of your faith. Repent, receive God’s forgiveness, and return to His path for you. This principle is such a crucial turning point, that the Lord even said it twice. Forsake the thoughts, attitudes, and actions that have drawn your attention away from wholehearted love for the Lord. Repentance involves a change of mind, heart, and direction. If so, the next step of rekindling your first love is to repent of your indifference toward God. Do you have a greater or lesser sense of your need for God now than you did when you were first saved? Are you cooler toward Him and less interested in spiritual matters than you once were? Recalling your salvation experience and your first love for the Lord can be a starting point to help you recognize changes that have developed in your relationship with God since then. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” (Revelation 2:4–5, emphasis added). Jesus gave clear instructions to the Ephesian church regarding returning to their first love: “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, Repent, and Do the “First Works” Our love for God can certainly wane when we lose our sense of needing Him. We see this scenario over and over in God’s Word, and we see it in our lives today! The church at Laodicea also experienced this same problem in their relationship to the Lord, eliciting this admonition from Jesus: “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Later, as God continues to meet our needs, we tend to forget that we had them! We begin to feel self-sufficient and foolishly believe that what we have gained was due to our own wisdom and effort. Our need for God brought us to Him for salvation. Why does our love for the Lord cool in the first place? Our love for God can certainly wane when we lose our sense of needing Him. Have you ever found yourself in this position, having strayed from the nearness of God and needing to rekindle your love for Him? Do you long for the warmth and closeness of that initial relationship with God, but you don’t know how to go back? Not only did He point out where they had erred, but He also encouraged them to remember where their relationship had been and make the necessary changes to restore the former relationship. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works” (Revelation 2:4–5). In a vision to the Apostle John, Jesus addressed His disappointment regarding this very issue with the church at Ephesus: “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. When a believer does not give his relationship with the Lord the focus and attention that any vibrant relationship needs, his love for God will grow cold. However, relationships take work! Just as people can grow cool or distant toward one another when they fail to give their relationship the attention it needs, so can many Christians fall away from their first love for the Lord. God’s Spirit witnesses with his spirit that he is a child of God (see Romans 8:16), and this newfound relationship brings great wonder, joy, and freedom. When a person receives Christ as his Savior, he experiences the delight of “first love” for the Lord.
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