First Love

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:4, NKJV)

Yesterday on my day off I spent some time “hanging out” at BSU. Fifteen years ago we started our church on the second floor of the Student Union Building. So much has changed since then. I visited some of the buildings we frequented for the first three years of our ministry. It brought back many memories.

One thing that hasn’t changed on campus is the sea of faces—some filled with hope, others stressed, many engaged in conversation with friends, and others in love.

I went there on a mission of discovery. How does one effectively share the gospel in such a place? As I pondered the question I remembered my own college days filled with so much hope, promise, passion and anticipation. It was during that time that Jesus laid hold of me. After struggling with living for God during my high school years, something very profound happened when I was nineteen, and I have never been the same. That was when I first felt called into ministry. I didn’t recognize it as such at that time, but that’s what it was.

In all the busyness and pressure of ministry, in the never ending to-do list of responsibilities, it is easy to let that first love for Jesus slip through our fingers. Do you remember when you first fell in love with Jesus? Do you remember how hours spent with Him passed by like minutes? Do you remember when it was enough simply to serve Him with no other reward? Do you remember when you couldn’t wait to go to the next Bible study just to hear His voice?

If there is one thing that will reach people today it is pure passion for Jesus. If we are in love with Him, then that love will be contagious. If we have left our first love, then let us follow Jesus’ advice to the Ephesians. Remember where you were; repent from where you are; redo your first works. Can love that is left be restored? Absolutely! And this revival of Jesus-love is the means by which the world will know Him.