Revelation 2:4
Nevertheless
I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Bible Reading for a Year [bible]psalm108[/bible];
[bible]james5[/bible]; [bible]ezeki21-22[/bible]
Soren
Kierkegaard, a philosopher and theologian of the 19th century, wrote
a love story between a western man who went to China and fall in love with the
local woman. It came to pass that he had to return to his hometown and needed
to cope with a long-distance relationship. However, he promised that he would
learn Chinese so they could send handwritten letters to each other.
He kept his
promise by going to college to learn Chinese. He became a professor of Chinese
in a university. As time went by, he became so busy that he loved his job very
much. He forgot his promise that he would write letters to his girlfriend, he
forgot to revisit China, and he forgot his first love to the girl.
And so did
the church in Ephesus. On one side, they had achieved many great things; they worked
hard and refused to quit, endured patiently, tested the false teaching, and
persevered. ([bible]revel2:2-3[/bible]).
However, God
had this against them, that they have left their first love
([bible]revel2:4[/bible]). They were so busy with their activities that they
had no time to build love and intimate relationship with God.
Sometimes we
have the same experience, aren’t we? We have our own activities, including
ministry, but we turn away from our first love to God! And regardless of many
things we have done, God is not pleased.
Leaving the first love makes us our
heart cold from God; we lose faith and are unfruitful because we have left our
first love.