Regaining Your First Love

     We are studying Paul's Letter to the Ephesians during Lent this year, and during the course of my preparations I uncovered a fact about the Church at Ephesus that I had long ago forgotten. Ephesus is one of the seven churches addressed by John in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 2). It was commended by John for its hard work and patient endurance, along with its willingness to drive out "evildoers" and false teachers. It was also confronted for a major flaw: It had lost its first love.
     Man, if there was ever a Church that we can identify with as everyday Christians it is the Church at Ephesus.
     Your first love. You remember it, don't you? It was that time in your life when Jesus Christ was everything. You couldn't wait to open your Bible every day because you just knew that God was waiting for you inside the pages of Scripture. You couldn't get enough of Sunday mornings, and you came to church just a little earlier and stayed just a little later simply for the fellowship. And you were willing to go to the corners of the world to build huts, teach, or whatever the Lord asked of you.
     Your first love. That was a long time ago. Now it seems as if life has gotten away from you. A quiet time in the morning is a forgotten concept because you feel too dog tired to get out of bed 15 minutes early. Sunday mornings find you bee-lining for the parking lot, tugging on your wife to get in the car so you can get home to watch the football game. And the only far-away trip you can imagine involves a hut on the beach with a margarita in your hand.
     There's nothing wrong with a trip to Cancun, but you just know when you have lost your first love.
     Feels kind of sad, doesn't it?
     There is good news, though: It is never too late to rekindle your first love!
     Don't forget this fact. "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." (James 4:8) If we take a step toward God, we will find that he is already moving toward us, for God is as passionate for our affections as he ever has been.
     Regaining the spark of your first love. It can happen in a flash, almost as easy as losing your first love.