| “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. ” |
| —Jeremiah 2:2 |
As a teacher, I always looked forward to the first day of a new school year. Summer came to school on the children’s faces and gradually faded into fall. I remember those pink cheekbones and glowing tanned arms and legs. Yet, without any advanced notice in another month, the sun’s influence on their complexions faded, just as their first intentions to behave and please the adults around them faded, as well.
God notices the glorious joy of new Christians. Luke 15:7 speaks of the rejoicing in heaven whenever a sinner repents. The parables of Jesus in Luke 15 speak of the “Lost Sheep,” the “Lost Coin,” and the “Lost Son.” In each case, the “finding” of these lost ones brings great celebration.
God also notices when the attitude of that one who once took great joy in the early relationship with Him drops off to a routine, or to the place of a forgotten “experience” at summer camp, or to a no-longer-remembered particularly blessed time of the Holy Spirit’s movement in a congregation.
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus speaks through the exiled Apostle John—imprisoned on the island of Patmos—to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. This is the land now occupied by Turkey. In each instance, Jesus commends those in each Church for various aspects of their faith. Then, Jesus continues by speaking bluntly about those things in each Church that distress Him.
In Revelation 2:2, 4-5, Jesus speaks to the Church in Ephesus with these words:
“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance … Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”
I often wonder what the Apostle John would write, if today he wrote to report Christ’s pronouncements to our current churches. Perhaps Jesus would say:
“You share your love with the less fortunate, and I like that. But, some of you work out of obligation, rather than from your hearts.”
Or, perhaps Jesus would declare:
“I enjoy the fellowship among your people and the strong sense of worship in your church. But, I don’t see you sharing the Gospel of Christ with others in the way that I intend you to share it.”
Or, might Jesus even state:
“You have obviously endured great suffering. But, You don’t pray corporately or personally like I’d wish you to pray.”
Now, let us please translate this example from a corporate church setting to our own personal relationships with the Savior. Has the personal bond we once had with Christ faded? Has this bond that once produced overwhelming joy become dull and lifeless? If so, what does Jesus, through the Apostle John, offer as a remedy for this lost first love? Jesus says in Revelation 2:5:
“Remember the height from which you have fallen and repent. Do the things you first did.”
Remember … Repent … Do …
Has our love for Christ and His church faded from the glowing beginning that we once experienced when we first came to a saving knowledge of Him? I urge each one of us to prayerfully remember when we first experienced the glorious awareness of His deep love for us. Let us humbly repent of our “backsliding” and begin again to do those things that pleased our Savior so much and, in turn, gave us so much joy. Said another way: “Don’t let the “Son”-shine fade!”
