First Love
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first
Rev 2 v 4: 4
Sorry, this is quite a hard verse to open with, but I know for myself it has been true at different times in my life… and it can creep in, in such subtle ways. A little less time each day to spend praying or studying God’s word…….. less of a desire to get up on a Sunday and go to Church when there seem to be a whole list of other things to do around the house…….. to spare the time to help that elderly neighbour who you know would just love you to come around to talk and help with some tidying up.
The first love has lessened in our personal walk with Christ…. our corporate walk with Christ …… and our desire to put Christ’s love for us into action. I want to make this clear – we haven’t STOPPED praying, we haven’t STOPPED meeting with other Christians, we haven’t STOPPED trying to help others…but it is all a bit less, and done with a bit less enthusiasm than it was 6 months ago.
Know the feeling?
Let’s read the whole passage to put this one verse into some context.
2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 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. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Rev 2 v 1 - 7
When we start something new, we often have so much enthusiasm, partly because it is new and partly because it involves so many different experiences and feelings. Of course, for those of us who are married, we can think back to the time we first met and butterflies entered our hearts and stars were circling in our eyes. OK, I am no poet, but I think you know what I mean! Everything was so wonderful, beyond belief and we wonder how things could ever change…… the wedding vows are said….. little feet are heard scuttling around the house….. expenses mount….. the lid is left off the toothpaste tube….. shoes are not removed before coming into the house…. elderly parents need to be helped… and the wonder of that first love seems to fade. What seems to be so easy and natural 5 or 10 years ago, now seems to be such hard work.
For those of you who are not married, I think a similar experience can be had when taking up a musical instrument or playing sport….. to blow the first note… to hit the first ball…. To play the first tune…. To score the first goal……. To take the first exam…. To win the first cup… to have to practice every evening, every weekend again and again and again. Some of that first joy is lessened and has to be replaced with grime determination.
Hard work…. determination….. these are NOT anti first-love, but are a part of the maturing of the initial feelings into something that is growing towards its fulness… the united family… the ability to play an instrument with freedom… the chance to be part of the winning team – and all, can bring such joy to others!
And this is exactly what is described as happening to the Ephesians in our passage………….
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance
Rev 2v2 – 2:
For first love to mature it requires ACTION, HARD WORK and PERSERVERENCE, and this is true for our Christian life, our love of Christ, as well as for any other thing in our life which we love and want to excel in! I think Rev 2 v3 is relevant and useful in this thinking:
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Rev 2 v 3 – 3
The reality is that the love of someone or something, will certainly mean that we need perseverance, but it will often mean that we need to endure hardships for the sake of that love – missing the Arsenal-Liverpool match because our daughter has a play at school, not going out with the friends tonight because of the need to just practice that piece for the worship group on Sunday…. Missing that extra 15 minutes of much needed sleep in the morning, so that I can read the Bible and pray. You might have very different issues…. or perhaps no issues at all!...... but, like the Ephesian Church we are encouraged NOT TO GROW WEARY… the first love is such a precious thing and we need to work hard to keep it!
From our passage we see that some in the Ephesian Church had fallen a long way, to the extent that they needed to repent and start afresh almost, or they faced the risk of falling away completely. I hope that none of us has reached to this level, but if you do feel so distant from Jesus, PLEASE let a trusted Christian brother or sister know, or reach out to any of the leadership team of KIC – Lubowa. WE ARE FAMILY and when one part is in pain, we are all feeling that pain!
For many of us, it will just be a lessening of our first enthusiasm. Perhaps one answer to this is to take time to dwell on the wonder of God and His saving Grace through Jesus Christ and the revitalising power of the Holy Spirit living within us. I like the way our passage ends.
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Rev 2 v 7
I am always excited when I read the word “Paradise” in the Bible…Jesus mentioned it to the repentant thief who was on the cross next to him (Luke 23:43) and here we have it mentioned again. I know there are theological debates about what Paradise is, but in my thinking it is how things were at the end of creation in the garden of Eden where everything lived in harmony with everything else, and God dwelt in that same place…..
Just close your eyes and imagine…..let God excite you…..PARADISE
And interestingly enough, our passage states that the Tree of Life, not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which Adam and Eve were not allowed to eat – there were two trees mentioned as being in the centre of the Garden of Eden - is now available to us…..
I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God
……Paradise restored!!! Praise God!
PRAYER
Questions to ponder:
What areas of your Christian life is your “First Love” not as it was?
How can we commit to change this situation and let our first love be rekindled?
Study question – I am not a theologian and, on this point, I need some help. There were two trees in the centre of the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Good and Evil. In our passage the reward is to “Eat from the tree of Life”. Is this because eternal life has now been assured through Jesus and not through the fruit of a particular tree?
