“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first…”

(Revelation 2:4–5a NIV)

Two elderly ladies, best friends for decades, were playing cards as they often did.  After a long pause, one said, “Please don’t get mad with me, but I can’t remember your name.  Please tell me what it is.”

Her friend stared in silence for several minutes, then asked, “How soon do you need to know?”

That story may make you cringe a bit if your memory isn’t quite what it used to be!  But it points to something deeper: sometimes we forget things we’ve known for a long, long time.

Spiritually speaking, it’s not much different. There are seasons in life where we lose sight of what really matters. We get busy.  Distracted.  Worn down.  We forget the joy of our salvation. We forget that we’re not just going through the motions — we were made for something more.

In Revelation 2, Jesus speaks to the church in Ephesus. They were doing good things — working hard, standing firm, even calling out false teaching. But Jesus says something sobering: “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4–5a NIV)

They hadn’t stopped believing. They hadn’t abandoned their faith. But they had forgotten their first love — the passion, the intimacy, the joy that once filled their walk with Christ.  It had become routine.

We can all end up in that place. We can get so busy with life, parenting, careers — even ministry— that our relationship with Jesus becomes more habit than heart.  The wonder fades.  The fire cools.

The good news is that we don’t have to stay in that place.  We can return. We can rekindle that closeness. We can remember why we fell in love with Jesus in the first place, and choose again to walk in that love.

The invitation of Jesus comes to us all – Remember where you used to be and fall in love with Jesus again.

Prayer: Lord, I confess that I sometimes forget the joy of knowing you.  I go through the motions and lose sight of the passion and love I once had.  Help me to remember.  Stir my heart again.  Bring me back to my first love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Alan Smith
Reprinted with permission from Alan Smith’s Thought For the Day