No Matter What . . . .You Can Return
Rev 2:4-5 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 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.
At times it seems hard to return to the Lord when our love for Him has grown cold. But our text gives hope of return. It presents both a caution and counsel. It declares the real possibility of leaving our first love. It asserts that our love for Christ can grow cold. But the text also discloses a path by which we can rekindle our fractured relationship with the Lord. It gives hope for those who have allowed something or someone to steal away their affection for the Lord. It helps them to understand that love left is not love lost. You can return to your first love.
Acts 18 gives us a portrait of the church at Ephesus. They were a group of believers who were passionately in love with Jesus. They were privileged to sit under great teaching. Their deep love and affection for their savior called them to sit at His feet and savor every morsel of His deep abiding affection for them. They loved Him who steadfastly and unconditional loved them. Their affections were stirred to be with Him and know the heights depths and riches of his love for them. Yet at some point their love for Jesus had cooled. They no longer found joy in spending time with Him and His people. Time with Him was no longer the bright spot of their day, but a blight on it. They left their first love.
They also loved to tell of the one they loved. Their love for Jesus was so wonderful that they gladly made His name known among the nations. Their love for mission was birthed from their affection for Him. They had no fear of proclaiming the gospel, even in the midst of great suffering and intense persecution. Their affection for Him compelled them to be fearless and faithful evangelist. They could not help but speak of the one who loved them and gave His life for them. But at some point, they grew to love the world more than going to the world. They became silent about Him, rather than speaking of Him. Their love for Him grew cold.
Hot hearts turn cold when our attention and attraction turns toward other things. Our hearts once burning with affections toward Jesus begin to shift toward worldly passions and pursuits. Our love for the Lord slowly declines. Our love for Him grows cold. We leave our first love. But there is a way back. There is hope to have hot hearts again. Our text gives us a path of restoration and returning to our first love.
First, we are to remember what it used to be like. We must recall that moment when we fell in love with Jesus. That time when all the delights of this life were diminished by our affection for Him. We have to remember the joy we had in Jesus, reflecting on how we would do anything and go anywhere out of our undying love for Him.
Second, we must repent. We must change our demeanor and direction. We have to turn from those things that have turned us from Christ. Those things that have redirected our love from Jesus, must be removed. They can longer take precedence over our passion for the Lord. We can no longer hold on to those things and hold on to Him. Those things that we have found that caused us to leave our first love must be forsaken. We have to make a change of our affections.
Finally, we are admonished to restore what we have removed. We must rekindle our passionate pursuit of Him. We must arouse our affections for Him. When our love becomes right our life will become right. Right affections will lead to right actions. It begins when we spend time with Him. By this, our hearts will be stirred again with a deep affection for Him. We will remember what we have removed and seek to restore it. We will once again do the works we did in the beginning. We will once more find wonder in His word. We will again experience enthusiasm in evangelism. We will find joy in Jesus and delight in being with His disciples. We will be restored.
Today in this last week of the year as we consider our achievements and our agony, let us assess our affections toward Christ. Let us consider our spiritual condition. Take time this week to reflect upon your relationship with Christ. Look intently at your intimacy with Him. If your love for the Lord has grown deeper, rejoice and continue in His love. But, if you find that through this year’s struggles and successes your love for Jesus has slipped or become stagnant or stale, stop and consider the admonition above. Make a change before the changing year.
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