Your First Love

Gus Pidal: Berea Seminary | Spain

The first time I visited Edinburgh, Scotland, I was astonished by the history of that city. From castles to churches, I was amazed by it all. However, what struck me in my conversations with residents of the city was how they had become accustomed to the sights and history that surrounded them. No-one stopped to ponder the beauty that surrounded where they were living. In Revelation 2 and 3, John is writing a letter to seven churches, the first of which was in Ephesus. This was a church that had a great pedigree; good founders and theology. Examine and ask yourself, am I loving Christ the same way I did when I was first saved? Yet there was a problem: they had abandoned their first love. Sadly, that love was a person—the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. This church was rich; it had a great heritage, but it was missing one thing, the most important thing: love for Christ. They had misplaced their affection for and devotion to Christ. As we train other men, we too can be like the church in Ephesus. Even though we should be thankful for our orthodoxy, it must never become like a lifeless relic. We do not worship books or doctrines; we worship a person, the God made flesh, the One who ransomed us from the dead, Jesus Christ. Examine and ask yourself, am I loving Christ the same way I did when I was first saved? If the answer is no, the antidote is simple: repent and believe, remembering who you were before you were saved. And let your love for Christ be borne out of an appreciation for what He has done for you on the cross.