A February Word from the Pastor

“You have left your first love…..” (Revelations 2:4)

How easy it is to leave a first love. It can happen in marriage. It can happen in a friendship. It can happen with God. The passion that first drove us is cooled. The desire that swayed us has waned. “Want to’s” become “have to’s”. Delights become duties. Outwardly we may preform as we should, but there is little joy or satisfaction in it. Your spouse would not be content with such a relationship. No friend would be pleased knowing you were just going through the motions. Neither is God accepting of such superficial actions.

 God desires for us to truly love Him. Of course love for Him is expressed by obeying His commands, but mere outward conformity is not pleasing to God or satisfying to us. Obedience with no love is rigid legalism. Love with no obedience is mere sentimentalism. Obedience motivated by love is Biblical, fulfilling and worthwhile.

 How do we love like this? The Bible teaches that when we are first saved God pours His love into our hearts (Romans 5:5). We start off this journey motivated by His love. The problem is that many do not cultivate this love and it cools over time. The eventual result is a drifting from God altogether, or a life full of religious rules and habits, void of real passion.

Are you cultivating the love God poured into your heart? The routine practices of personal and corporate worship, Bible study, prayer, giving, daily surrender, and service to others goes a long way in this regard. Taking special time when you can focus solely on God will also help rekindle love’s flame. More can be added to this list, but sufficient to say that all this requires prioritizing your relationship with God.

 How is your spiritual love? If Christ were to evaluate you in this avenue, what would He REALLY say? Has your walk with Jesus become a little dry? The good news is we can return to that first love. How? Jesus tells us in Rev 2:5. “Repent” and “do the things you did at first.” What does this mean? Look at previous paragraph! God will draw near to you when you make the sincere effort to seek Him! Obedience driven by genuine love is the only way to live out the Christian life!

Pastor Chris