Your First Love
Do you still remember when you came to conversion? You were happy, wanted to share your newfound salvation with everyone, and you felt you were truly part of the Body. You grew spiritually and became involved in many activities. However, as time went on, you became busier, paid more attention to other things, and less to your personal growth and the source of that growth. You did not really notice it. Then one day, you received a letter from Jesus, and it shook your foundations. You were not as successful as you thought. The letter speaks of the good things you did – the great involvement – but it also tells you that you lost your focus and actually drifted away.
Works, labour, perseverance, testing, and not growing weary – all these things that we do in our church or community as believers, even more so those involved in the ministry of the Word, are good, but they are actually just works, nothing more. Most of us do these things because they are visible; perhaps because we will get public credit for them.
Your first love is what was once the priority in your own life. What is your first love? If it is not Jesus Christ, there is a problem and your priority is wrong.
The letter that John writes to the church in Ephesus addresses not only individuals, but the church in the city. It is very easy for the church today to appear busy and involved through outward display and various programmes, but the One who it is really all about is placed on the sidelines. When the real focus is no longer there, the movement loses its purpose.
We must understand that the letters in Revelation 2 and 3 are in each case addressed to "the angel" – the leader or pastor of the church. It is also in the second person and uses second person pronouns. Look at the letter to the recipient in Ephesus:
- Your (verse 2, 4, and 5)
- You (verse 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6)
There can therefore be no confusion about who is being addressed. The reality, however, is that not only the church, but also individual members are being addressed. We must not forget that John himself, who wrote the letter, was also previously a leader in the church in Ephesus. It must have hit him hard when Jesus dictated these words and he thought back to a previous incident. Let's turn to John 21:19. Jesus explains how Peter would glorify Him and gives him this command: Follow me.
Peter asks further about what would happen to John and Jesus says the following to him:
22Jesus answers him: If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me. – John 21:22
We are often so focused on what others are doing, even in the church and in ministry, that we forget about ourselves. Jesus tells Peter straight out that he should not worry about John, and what happens to him has nothing to do with Peter. Read what Jesus says to him: You follow Me.
The problem is when you leave your first love and no longer follow Him. Jesus makes it clear that He has this against you: that you have left your first love; abandoned it. You are warned:
- to remember from where you have fallen (fallen, drifted away);
- to repent; and
- to do the first works again, what you did as a new believer.
The end result if you do not do this is that your lampstand will be removed – your position in Christ. How tragic it is that you, because of the fact that you left your first love, not only lose Jesus Christ, but also what you did, what was once your passion. Return to your first love and the future reward is great: to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. Jesus said to the thief Today you will be with Me in Paradise, Luke 23:43.
Calculate the Cost
What is your first love worth to you? Most of us are so focused on making as much money as possible now, owning as many possessions as possible now, and living as comfortably as possible now, that we may have long ago left our first love behind on the road of our success. This is what we are warned against.
You must decide for yourself which works you are willing to perhaps temporarily set aside in order to find your first love again. There is nothing wrong with financial prosperity, possessions, and comfort. It is about your priorities and your focus – what awaits when your money, possessions, or comfort no longer yield dividends for you.
We wrote a similar article back in 2021 but did not realise it when posting the new one. [ Have a look at the older article here. ]