Your First Love
What an intimate phrase… “your first love.” Do you think of your first crush? Or your first kiss? Or a relationship you’ll never forget?
As fall arrives, and windows of time suddenly become available after a busy summer, I’ve begun thinking about my first love…the intimate, cherished relationship I first experienced when I came to realize God loved me and desired a close relationship with me through knowing Jesus, His Son.
That was more than 50 years ago and yet I will always cherish those special times of fresh discovery when the relationship was new and I came to find out who God was the very first time…a personal, loving Father, an intimate confidante, a God closer than my very breath. I loved Him then and I love Him now.
I remember reading a book that I am recommending for contemplation this month. It’s a simple Bible study book you can read and respond to in the quietness of your own home daily. It’s entitled, “Behold Your God,” by Myrna Alexander. With each new season, there are new opportunities to renew and revise your schedule. I am challenged and am challenging you to spend renewed time with God… getting to know who He is again, possibly rekindling a first love that may have dimmed.
When Jesus observed the faith and good works of the church at Ephesus, He said something very significant, “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first…” (Rev. 2:2-5).
So this fall, in a time when our frenetic culture causes stress and anxiety, what better time to remember who God is, “The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And He will be the security and stability of your times…The fear of the Lord is your treasure” (Isaiah 33:5-6).
Let’s commit this month to spend time with God each morning, focusing on who He is, praying that the Holy Spirit rekindle any subtle dimming of love in our hearts that we may not even be aware of…stirring the embers within so the intimacy of our first love for Jesus burns brightly again, greater than ever before.
Thinking about His character, the next time you watch the news, remember that God alone provides our security and stability in a world gone mad. May His presence be your welcomed relief and comfort. Let’s remember despite the media’s doom and gloom, God is still in control.
If you have a prayer request, question, or simply a comment you want to make, please contact me at info@yourrefreshedlife.com. I’d love to hear from you!
