Thoughts for another day

April 4, 2014.

Today's verse:  Rev. 2: 3, 4. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. (KJV)

(Pls. read the above before you read further.  Thanks)

To the church in Ephesus, rather more specifically to us in today’s times, Jesus says the Word today: You’ve experienced hardships and persevered for My Name’s sake and haven’t grown weary.  But, you’ve forsaken your first love.  Now Who is our first love?  It’s Jesus Himself.  I remember when I went for a retreat and had a soul cleansing experience.  Oh, I was so charged for Jesus.  At that time, there was nothing I wouldn’t do for His sake.  It was Jesus and Jesus alone Who interested and excited me.  Everything was just dross and I could well do without any of it as long as I had Jesus.

Then days went by and many moons later, I realise that the same commitment to Jesus isn’t there.  The zeal has mellowed down a little bit.  The willingness to sacrifice anything and everything has reduced.  There was a time when I wouldn’t watch any program on television except Christian channels, but today the feeling is, what the heck, watching another program isn’t so bad!  As far as obstinately not committing sin is concerned, well that obstinacy has softened a tad and truly though I’m still ready to persevere with the Lord and even bear hardships for Him, there’s that little bit of hesitation niggling at the back of my mind.  I still remember those days when I was ready to encounter hail, storm or floods to do work for the Lord, but today, I’m not so sure.

Time has certainly eroded my love for the Lord and here He is today telling me about it: WHERE IS YOUR FIRST LOVE.  A question I must answer in the quiet of my soul.  I’ve written this reflection with me as the person in question, asking myself, what’s the state of my soul vis-à-vis, what Jesus tells us in our Scripture today.  But it’s relevant to us all and we need to ponder upon it.  We must stop backsliding and get on to the drawing board, detaching ourselves from all the filth that has managed to cling onto us and clean ourselves with the precious blood of Jesus Christ and repent.  He will be most happy to welcome us back and sup with us.