Returning to Your First Love
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. Revelation 2:4-5 (KJV) emphasis mine
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. II Timothy 1:6 (KJV)
We are to rekindle the embers of, or fan the flames of, and keep burning the gift of God. We are to keep the inner fire of and for God burning bright. Jesus told the church of Ephesus, as well as the entire body of Christ from that time until the end of the church age to do these three things:
Remember
Repent
Do
Our first love was the the intense love we had for Jesus when we were first saved. First works refers to the things we did when we were first saved- like fellowshipping with Jesus, studying the Bible, praying, worshiping, going to church, witnessing, and spending time in God’s presence. When we leave our first love, we let these things slide. Jesus should always be our first love, plus He should be our first priority. When we love Him first, everything else finds its proper place in our lives.
To stoke the fire of that love; to return to an on-fire love for Jesus, we must remember how we first got saved and fell in love with Jesus. Remember how you just wanted to be with Him and to do everything with him and for Him.
As we remember, we’ll repent and have a change of mind about our priorities. We’ll renew our minds to Jesus, His love for us and our love for Him. We’ll fall in love with Him all over again, where all we need is Jesus.
That intense desire for Jesus will prompt us to do the things we once did when we were first saved. First love produces the first works. Our works, or actions, will be for the Lord and He will work through us. When we are totally surrendered to the Lord in kingdom work, He does great things in us and with us.
Doing these three things will rekindle the fire of love for the Lord and ignite a passionate desire for Jesus. In returning to our first love, everything we do we will do for the Lord out of love and devotion for Him. As we do these things, our first love will stay red hot and we will be consumed with Jesus, always walking in our first love with Him.
For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29 (KJV)
