I cannot tell you how many times this has happened to me and it is not just a sign of age. When I was raising our four children, I would misplace items simply because I would become distracted by someone calling for help. In short, my full attention was not focused on what I was doing. The same thing happened to my parents one day and the result was funny to say the least.
My father put his Brylcreem for his hair on a lower shelf and the toothpaste on the upper shelf of the medicine cabinet. Ordinarily this was just the other way around. So, when my mother went to brush her teeth, she grabbed the Brylcreem which was in a tube that looked similar to the toothpaste.
Needless to say, she was not a happy camper and it took a while for her to get that nasty taste out of her mouth. While misplacing things is no fun, losing our first love of Jesus Christ is far worse.
Jesus spoke to the Church at Ephesus in the book of Revelations 2:1-7: "“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write,
‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ In this passage, our Lord commended the Ephesians for many good things they were doing. However, they had lost the zeal and ardor that once characterized their love for Christ and the salvation He gave to them. They were going through all the right motions but the flame and passion had gone out of their relationship with the Lord. This is serious business both for a church and for individual Christians. How does this happen and what are the signs?
Life can be very distracting especially if we are parents of active young children or we work a demanding job. We can easily put off prayer time or Bible study thinking we will do it later; yet, later never seems to come for us. The longer we put off doing these faith building exercises the more distant we become from Christ. This is not unlike a marriage or even a friendship. If we neglect that other person, we will build some barriers. Lack of communication is a relationship killer. It takes effort to keep a relationship alive and growing. This is one way we can lose our first love.
Another thing that can isolate us from the love of Christ is when we are angry with God or unwilling to repent of sin. When a tragedy occurs in our life, it is easy to blame God for what has happened, but if we hold on to that anger, we will be the loser in the end. We often do not know why God allows certain things to happen. He has the big picture and we do not. This is where we have to trust Him in all areas of our life and yield to His Lordship. Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us that God has good plans for us even if we do not see the results at the present time. Likewise, if we have sinned and are unwilling to repent of that sin, we have raised a barrier between ourselves and the Lord. Jesus said that if we love Him we must obey Him and love one another. This is contrary to living in sin.
Apathy also can cause us to lose our first love for Christ. It is a spiritual laziness where we spend more time listening to the "flesh" than we do to the Holy Spirit. We could read our Bible, but that takes effort. Or...we could go to Bible study, BUT there is this special on T.V. tonight. Having been a Christian for 47 years, I am well acquainted with all the excuses for not building my zeal for the Lord. It takes discipline and effort to serve the Lord. Lets face it, it takes effort to work on any important relationship, and our fellowship with God is the most crucial one we will ever have.
Now, we must ask ourselves, "Have we lost our first love?" Here are a few signs: We make excuses for not attending church; we have little or no spiritual appetite to read the Word; prayer time is a burden rather than a blessing; our heart is cold towards the Lord rather than the passion we once felt; we do not go out of our way to tell others about Christ; we justify areas of sin or compromise; we are critical of others rather than forgiving and we avoid Bible study with friends when we used to enjoy it. These are just a few of the signs that we have lost our first love.
Jesus calls us to return to our first love for Him. He desires to fellowship with us. In this crazy world in which we live, it is easy to get caught up in all the busy activities of work, children and other obligations. However, we must never neglect our relationship with the Lord. May we be diligent in seeking Him every day and then, see how all the rest of our life will fall into place. Selah!
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