Revelation 2:4 (ESV) "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."
Yes, you abandoned that first love! You have memories and perhaps that will suffice, however, maybe your first love was meant to be. Who knows how happy you would be today if you married the one you loved first. You might be content, complete, in harmony, joyful and perhaps loving. If only you could do it again!
With your spouse or chosen partner, you can redo what's undone. It's a matter of looking at the green grass right beside you and understanding that the green grass over there has fungi yet to reveal itself. Beneath that green luscious sod lies devouring insects and depleting soil. It's only a matter of time before that grass withers more than the grass under your feet right now. Rather than desiring the green grass over there, cultivate the grass you already have. The fertilizer of restoration is "lightweight offset paper"; paper which words of wisdom are printed upon! Within the pages of the wisest book are instructions for growing a green lawn.
It's not only what you put on the grass, it's what's not done as well. Perhaps the first step in greening that lawn is to quit trampling on the grass! The grass may have brown spots and diseased areas, but walking on the grass impedes it growing further and inhibits renewal. Try adding a little love to the grass. Plants need loving care. I suppose grass is no different! The grass needs to hear tender words of love. Criticizing will kill it's will to live and you'll end up with withered grass in your own backyard, whereas others have "Miracle Grow" lawns. That grass has been loved, watered and fertilized. That's what it takes. Dumping the dishwater on green lawns kill what's there and ruins the roots seeking nourishment from below.
You can't have your first love back. Things have changed! Your first love may now be dead grass. It's not the same green turf you remember when you were eighteen. Your first love likely found some new sod. You may appear to be full of weeds in the eyes of your first love. That loved one you had at first may seek young seedlings vibrant and jubilant. No, your first love cannot be had. It truly wasn't meant to be! However, some married their first love, but seek love from another, tiring of that old relationship where romance is no longer!
Our first love loved us first!
Romans 5:8 (ESV) "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Are you willing to die for the one who loves you? Would you die in place of your spouse? God loved us so much that he did in fact die for us. What do we offer in return?
1 John 4:19 (ESV) "We love because he first loved us."
That's mutual love. Jesus loved us and we love him back! That's the love we had at first; our first love! Fidelity is maintaining a loving relationship with the one we loved first. We must not love another nor look at what appears to be greener and neglect our first love! Lot's wife did that and was turned into a pillar of salt!
A Nickolodeon television commercial flashed back and forth between beautiful dancing girls and a hell-fire preacher. It asked the kids listening "Which would you choose?". For children they would choose the beautiful women and the party life. The preacher looked bland and intimidating. We're not children yet we're fooled by the pleasures outside the Church. We leave our first love and live for pleasure. Oh, we may stroke Jesus once a week, but the rest of the week, we cuddle with our new love; the one with greener grass. Jesus weeps! The bridegroom weeps because his bride the Church fails to love him as she once did. We have left our first love!
Revelation 2:5 "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
Look at that new love. Does your lover offer joy in life and hope forever. No, your present love is temporary. Sorrow lies ahead and your first love may remove the wedding candlestick and you will go from two loves to none. That new love's charm fades with time. You will begin to despise what you once relished. "No, problem!" you say. "I'll find another love." There is but one faithful. It's the love of your life and the one who has been true and faithful. Repent of your negligence and disrespect. Repent for loving another. With repentance your first love is faithful. He has the grace to take you back for another chance. Your marriage to him is forever unless you leave the one you love for an illicit affair.
Your first love will take you back. You're not what you used to be, but to him you're beautiful and vibrant. His eyes judge fairly. It's not the structure of the temple, but the love inside it's sanctuary. He looks at the heart, not the dome!
Jesus weeps with your infidelity, but the angels rejoice when the bride repents!
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