LOVE LOST

October 2 

But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.  Revelation 2:4

This is a letter written by the Apostle John under the instruction of the one in control of the church, Jesus Christ, to a real church that existed around 100 AD.  This is a hard working church that doesn’t tolerate evil, and one that correctly discerns those who are false Apostles according to verse 2.  And, verse 3 adds that they have not fainted over the years.  This sounds like a perfect church. But, the Lord notices a motive problem.  It is not what they do, but why they do it.  They have left their first love. What does that mean? Well, it means that what they do is not done out of love for Christ.  Maybe they do these things out of tradition, maybe habit or maybe because they enjoy what they are doing.  It could be that they do these works to please the pastor.  But, it also could be simply to add new people to the church so they can boast about their attendance or increased offerings.  If these kind of things are our motivations, we have also grown cold in our relationship with Christ.  We should do these things because we love the Lord, and it pleases Him to see us doing these things.  We are obeying His revealed will for us because His great love for us obligates us to obey Him in all things. That is why we did things when we were first saved.  We were excited about Jesus and wanted to serve Him and tell others about Him. Verse 5 tells us to remember that, repent from our laid back apathy and do what we did at the first when we were in love with Christ. 

Tom Johnson