Sabbath Thought - First Love

Our lives are full of magical moments, and many of those magical moments are rites of passage (our first un-assisted steps as a baby, the loss of our first tooth, our first day of school, the day we got our driver's license, etc.).  Other milestone moments could include baptism, marriage, or the birth of our first child.  We can repeat many of these events, but seldom do they recapture that feeling of the first time.

Do you remember your first love?  That should be a very special memory.  Do you remember the excitement of learning about this other person?  Do you remember rearranging everything in your schedule so you could spend more time together?  You hung on every word that was said and just being together was enough even if nothing was said.

You are probably assuming that I am talking about physical relationships, but what I am really leading up to is the first love we should all have when God calls us.  Do you remember that first love when God called you?  Our calling is very similar to a love that leads to marriage.  Any successful marriage will grow past that first love stage.  We make adjustments for our quirks and idiosyncrasies, but the love must grow deeper.  Has our love for God grown deeper?  Do we remember that first love and nourish and cherish it to make it even more meaningful?

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3 we have letters written to specific individual churches - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.  These were not the only congregations in what is now known as Asia Minor, or modern day Turkey, but they represented characteristics or attitudes Christ knew would persist in His church down through time.  Ephesus (as the first listed) was a city of major importance during Roman times.  It was the largest city in the province, with a population of c.300,000 and a major trade center.  Ephesus had a vibrant cultural scene, and was a center of the Roman worship of the goddess Diana. 

In Revelation 2:2 Jesus praised the church at Ephesus for rejecting false teachers.  But, they had lost their initial excitement and zeal for doing God's work. Over the years their enthusiasm had waned (Revelation 2:4-5).  Jesus warned them to return to their "first love" so they wouldn't lose their place as part of the Church of God.  In returning to our first love we are encouraged to keep the enthusiasm we first had for keeping God's law and for putting that law into action.  Do we thank God in our prayers today the same way we did when we were first called?  Do we seek to overcome sin in our lives the same way we did when God first opened our mind to His way of life (1 John 3:3)?

How do we then make sure we keep our first love?  Remain humble (teachable - Matthew 18:3-4).  When we were young in our relationship with God we knew we could not change on our own and so we went to God and committed our problems, our trials to Him with that simple, trusting faith.  Does this pure faith remain in each of us?  Don't neglect regular prayer and Bible study.  This is time with God to deepen our relationship with Him.  Don't forsake the assembling (Hebrews 10:25).  We are separated by distance in many cases, but do we have a hunger to be together?  It saddens me when I see members choose other options that preclude being with their spiritual family. Love the brethren (John 13:34-35).  How well do we do in practicing this with each other?  Loving one another means forgiving one another.  Serve the brethren.  Loving one another also means having a willingness to serve each other.  Service has always been a part of the expectation of attending God's church (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Christ cautions His Church to not let our initial zeal for His way of life fade.  If we have drifted in, or neglected our calling we can regroup, refocus, and recommit ourselves to the calling God has given to each one of us.  Let's remember the caution to the Church at Ephesus and retain our first love.

I wish you a profitable and value filled Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

12 June, 2020