Losing Our First Love

     One of the downsides to putting something away in a safe place is remembering where you put it!
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!

Most Unlikely Choices

     Having been in several beauty pageants and then, having had the experience of broadcasting a number of beauty pageants for a local radio station, I learned a lot.  Doing interviews with the contestants which we aired before the pageant gave me an opportunity to get to know the girls.  When it came time for the decision, I had my favorites in mind, but things did not always go the way I had imagined.  Each judge came to the contest with their own set of ideas as to what made up a winner.  Of course, they were guided by certain standards as laid out by the pageant committee, but ultimately, their life experiences played a part in how they evaluated each contestant.  Even watching the Miss America pageant over the years, I often was surprised by the person who captured the crown.  So is it any wonder that we, at times, stand back and say to ourselves, "Why did God choose to do things this way?"
     As I was reading in the Book of Ruth (one of my favorites), the author made it clear that Ruth was a foreigner.  She and her sister Orpah came from Moab.  Moab was a nation that worshipped the fish god Chemosh, and was started by the son of Lot and his oldest daughter.  Their incestuous relationship brought about a people that would later cause Israel problems even though they were related to Abraham.  Nevertheless,  Naomi and her husband Elimelech along with their sons went to this area during a famine.  During their stay, their sons married Moabite women; however, both Naomi's husband and her two sons died with no children to carry on the family name or inheritance.  Only Ruth returned to Naomi's community of Bethlehem with her refusing to leave her alone while her sister Orpah returned to Moab.
     Ruth was willing to leave behind her country and relatives to follow her mother-in-law and care for her needs.  She proclaimed her fidelity to her and to her God.  While she gleaned in the fields to find grain for their food, she met Boaz who would later become her kinsman/redeemer.  He was a relative of Naomi's and had heard about Ruth and her kindness towards Naomi.  Under his protection, Ruth worked the fields safely.  According to God's plan, Boaz took Ruth as his wife when another kinsman did not wish to marry her.  The result of their union was the birth of Obed who not only carried on
Elimelech's family name and inheritance, but would also be the father of Jesse who would later be the father of King David.  What is even more astounding is that through this lineage came Messiah.
     Here we see a Gentile woman coming from a pagan culture that came out of an immoral relationship between a father and daughter.  God chose Ruth to be the wife of Boaz and the mother of Obed.  This is really a foretaste of what the Lord would do in tearing down the wall of separation between the Jews and Gentiles.  Furthermore, when we look back further in the line of King David and our Lord Jesus Christ, we find another Gentile.  Rahab the Harlot who hid the spies in Jericho would become the wife of Salmon who would father Boaz (Matthew 1:4).  God's plans are amazing and at the same time puzzling.  Would we have chosen a prostitute or a foreign woman who worshipped a pagan god to be in the royal lineage of our Savior? Ah but God's ways are not our ways nor are His thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8).
     Through this action by God, we see that Gentiles would be part of the Lord's plan of salvation.  Not only this but we also see how wrong we can be when it comes to judging people or looking at situations we may face.  Our God is sovereign over all the affairs of men, and He chooses to do things  according to His good will and for His glory.  We are often left to ponder why this happened or that took place, but one day, we will see Him face to face.  We will understand His grand design that now we only see in a mirror darkly.  Until that day, let us rejoice that God's work of salvation began before the foundation of the world.  He chose us and called us by His name.  For that, we should be thankful, and marvel at His plan to include two unlikely women in the lineage of His Son.  Selah!

Practice Your Faith

     Being a math challenged person most of my life, I have learned to laugh at myself when my calculations are way off base.  On the other hand, I can pick out errors in spelling, punctuation and incomplete sentences in the newspaper quickly.  It just goes to show that each one of us has our strengths and weaknesses when it comes to certain subjects.  However, all of us can excel in the area of our spiritual growth.  Prayer, Bible study and fellowship with like-minded believers are vital so that we can be equipped to bring glory to the Lord.  In addition, this is even more important if we are parents or grandparents as children watch, listen and observe the things we take time for each day.

Two of my handsome grandsons

     This became clear to me as I was reading the last few chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy.  Moses was preparing the Children of Israel for new leadership under Joshua who would take them into the promised land.  As he was doing so, he reviewed with them the Law that the Lord had given to them and called them to renew their covenant with God.  Because this was close to the end of his life, these instructions were very important that he was delivering to the people.  He encouraged them  to do this:  "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deut. 11:19 and 6:7).  Repetition is a key way we learn things and make them a part of our lives.  This was the goal that Moses had in mind.  As we teach our children and grandchildren the truth of God's Word, we are also strengthening our understanding of our faith.  Unfortunately, we are a forgetful people.  Let me give a practical illustration.
     I love to do needlework and also crochet.  I started a project a while ago but then dropped it as other activities came along.  When I went to restart the project once more, I had to spend time looking over the directions in order to re-orient myself.  It took some time to do this as I did not want to make a mistake.  Funny how quickly we can forget basic things if we neglect it for a while.  I would say the same thing is also true for church fellowship, Bible study and prayer.
     How often have we known someone who faithfully attended church and then, one day, disappeared?  Perhaps illness prevented them or some other difficulty.  Yet, we never see them come back.  One reason for this is that it is easy for us to get out of the habit of making time for the Lord.  We get so busy with the daily activities of life that we let our worship time get choked out by the cares of this world.  Our faith requires not only discipline but also practice.  We must also take the time to read the Word.  Otherwise, when the storms of life come, what do we have to draw upon if not the truths found in the Bible?  Likewise, we must talk with the Lord.  He is our Creator, sustainer, and the Rock upon which we can depend.  I would not think of letting a day go by without talking to God.
     Just as Moses reminded the people to talk about the commandments of God and teach them to their families, Jesus also spent three years teaching his disciples.  Yet, they also forgot many of the truths He had shared with them about the necessity of His death and resurrection.  Needless to say, they were surprised to see Him even though the women had reported that His tomb was empty.  The two disciples on the way to Emmaus were also instructed by the Lord in how He had fulfilled all the of the prophecies.  Isn't it amazing how quickly they forgot?
     God calls us to become students who apply ourselves to the practice of our faith.  We have His Word.  We have a means of communicating with Him and an opportunity to join with others in worship.  This is what makes us able to withstand the tough times in life.  Likewise, it keeps us out of the danger of false teachings.  Being diligent to pursue the faith given to us will help us bring glory to God and provide a witness for those who follow us.  May we be found faithful in this cause!  Selah!