Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. (Revelation 2:4)
"Woa...woa...woe." (The Righteous Brothers)
Sometimes we forget what it was like when we first fell in love. The object of our affection consumes our every thought. Some describe it as being "love sick."
But Jesus told the church in the city of Ephesus that their sickness was that they had stopped loving as they had at first. He told them that they were doing good work and hanging tough, but there was no love in it. He told them that he was going to remove their lamp of influence as a church if they didn't return to their first love.
I must admit as a pastor that I sometimes do ministry out of a sense of duty or just being tough and keeping my word. During seasons like that I start feeling a sense of spiritual dryness. Outwardly, I'm doing the good work of pastoring and sharing the gospel. But on the inside a kind of bitterness can sometimes set in. I begin to forget why I'm serving in the Kingdom. I start feeling self righteous on one hand and self pity on the other.
Jesus calls us to love him with priority. He says return to your first love (Greek: protos agape)!
Kingdom work without loving the King is empty.
Long love the King!
Good thoughts there Gary and I get into a rut like the one describe and I think we all do. It seems to me we do things based more on tradition more than biblical truths and that is where the rut comes into play because we become almost robotic when we fall into that trap of well this is the way it has been done for years and years so I have to do it that way too. When the day is done all God really wants to know is Did you love my people, did you forgive my people and did you offer grace to my people in the no strings attached way I showed these three things to you? I really don't think He is going to care whether we sang during the service or how many small groups we attended or hosted or any number of things we do in order to create an illusion of the perfect christian. I am not saying these things are of no importance. I am saying these things should not define whom we are in Christ.
Thanks Take care and see you on sunday.
Mike Massey
[email protected]
http://linuxheels.blogspot.com
Posted by: Mike Massey | October 12, 2007 at 05:50 AM
Hey Mike, Thanks for joining the conversation! Good insight. I liked your "robotic rut" comparison. That's it isn't it? When we let our faith become rote and robotic we fall into a rut. (Forgive the alliteration. I couldn't resist.)
A powerful, passionate, priority love is what Christ desires of us! (Again...)
Posted by: Gary Combs | October 12, 2007 at 11:39 AM