“But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place — unless you repent.”
Revelation 2:4-5 HCSB
Do you remember the first time you got saved? Do you remember the passion you had for the things of Jesus Christ? We were so eager to go to church and to read the Bible. The day after I got saved I went to see Myles Monroe and he spoke for four hours at a conference. I had never sat through any kind of sermon or lecture for that long. I took every word in, never growing weary but was engaged the entire time. It was a life changing message. Every question I had about God was answered, my doubts were washed away, I knew in my heart that Jesus was my savior, the way and the truth. I listened to other sermons on tape. I read the bible. I returned to college with a desire to fellowship with other Christians and know more about Jesus.
It is so easy to get caught up in our works, the labor of the church. We can spend years of our lives giving to the church, walking in our belief and yet grow to despite and resent the burden of Christianity. Today we see many prominent Christians leaving the church. Some have even said they have left the faith all together. They have been pastors, ministers of the gospel, worship leaders, and other disillusioned Christians. Many Christians have been so hurt by the church from it toxicity to its hypocrisy. So people leave and they question what they really believe.
If this is you or you feel that the love you once had for the church has waned, Jesus has a message for you. Return to the love your first had. Do the works you did at first. Reading your bible, praying, fellowshipping with the saints. Then the love and passion you had will return. Do not wait for the feeling to come back first and then you do the work. Jesus says repent – remember where you have fallen, we were once lost and now we are saved. We have to change our hearts and minds that are full of the bitterness from the weariness of our work that lacked faith, our labor that no longer was rooted in love and our endurance that lacked hope.
Do not allow Jesus to just be another story of another religion and you equate him simply as a prophet or some teacher to imitate. Do you remember when you first loved Jesus? What did you do for Him? Go back and do those works again and the love will follow.
Reflections 