"First Love/ First Works"

"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 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".  Revelation 2:2-5

The Lord said that these people had lost their first love.  Have you lost your first love?  Is Jesus the focal point of your life like He was at the beginning?  Do you still love Him with all your heart, soul, strength and mind?  Or has your love for Him dwindled?  Has He taken a seat further down the line, or at the end, of your affections? 

How does this happen?  We allow the cares of this life to cause us to start turning from Him.  We let others come between us and Him.  There are many reasons.  But more important than "why did this happen?" is "how do I get that first love back?". 

When Jesus told us the problem, He also gave us the solution.  "Repent, and do the first works".  The first step is to repent.  Confess this falling away to Him.  Confess this lack of love to Him.  Repent of it, turn and start heading back toward Him.  Next, do the first works.  If you noticed, He first commended them for their "works".  So they were doing works.  They were still working for Him and doing His work.  So which works is He talking about?

If you look up the word work in the original language it also means:  that with which anyone is occupied.  Do you remember when you first got married, or were dating someone, how you were occupied and preoccupied with that person you were in love with?  No one else mattered.  Your whole world- interests, schedule, money, time, plans, every waking moment-- was spent planning around everything else how you could be with or see that person.  You longed to be with them.  All you could do was eat, think, drink, sleep, dream about them.  You couldn't wait to be with them and didn't want to leave once you were.  That person was the center of everything you did.  Everyone and everything else came second.  This is the work that He is talking about-- being occupied with Him more than anything else and not letting anything else stand in the way of you being with Him.  You do the first works by being preoccupied and occupied with Jesus.   

Have a great day.  Have you lost your first love?  Are your thoughts and life occupied with Him?         

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from 
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