First love

Posted this on the blog that i shared with my two disciples.. also my QT reflections .. so thought i'll post it here also...

Revelations 2:4

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first

I wondered again.. what does this first love mean? What is this first love that Jesus was referring to...?

" To paraphrase Christ's advice to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2, He says, "Renew your devotion to Me. Go back to the first works. You have left your first love. Renew your earlier devotion to Me."

Devotion is the sense in which the word "love" (agape) is being used. Devotion literally means "to vow completely." Baptism is the outward show that one has vowed to give his life to God, and so "devotion" implies complete dedication, total surrender. This hints at the Ephesians' problem: Their devotion—their complete dedication—was slipping away.

Devotion is a deep and ardent affection, a feeling. Its synonym are "attentiveness," "dedication," "commitment," "earnestness," but all with a feeling of affection. Devotion is not given out of a sense of obligation only, but with a warm feeling or a passionate desire. Jesus' charge to the Ephesians to return to their earlier devotion is not something that He is asking to be done merely as a duty. Some antonyms of "devotion" can help us see it from another angle: indifference, negligent, unconcerned, disregard, infidelity, and faithlessness."

Once again, i've been reminded that the Christian walk is not an easy one.. it seems so easy to fall.. so easy to stumble.. so easy to fall away...

That's why it's so important and crucial for us to renew our minds.. to renew our strength.. through prayer.. through reading God's word.. through communicating with God... so so so important...

It isn't enough to live a life of good moral.... because the Ephesus Church did that.. they followed the law.. they were fervent.. they flushed out false teachings and false prophets.. but Rev 2:4 tells us that Jesus had this charge against them.. that they had abandoned their first love...

Those words that i highlighted and bold.. let's examine ourselves.. are we guilty of any of these? I'm cannot say that i'm above all these.. because i am not.. i myself struggle to understand still what it means to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.. i'm still learning.. so let's continue to pray for one another ok..? that we'll together love God and others .. because it is His greatest commandment...

Mark 12:29-31

.."The most important is, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength". The second is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."