My First Love
Week Thirty-Five
August 24, 2025
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love
— Revelation 2:4 (NIV)
C. H. Spurgeon wrote, “The cry of the Christian religion is the simple word, ‘Come’.” God’s call goes forth always and his invitation is constant. We are birthed at his beckoning and constantly pulled in close to his heart thereafter at his invite. From our introduction to this faith to its very end at heaven’s portal, “Come”, is the word on his lips. His desire is that we are where he is, for he knows us best and knows what is best for us. He loves us entirely, more than anyone else is capable of loving us. He desires us fully. His passionate love burns for us.
Yet there exists an army, an array, of distractions - a multitude of devices set before us to pull us away from our passion for him. But hear, in the midst of the noisy clamor, a knocking, a gentle rapping on the door of your heart. There he stands, desiring to enter and fill the cavernous void of your hungering heart with the meal of true life - bread from heaven above.
“Return to your first love,” we hear. “But, how?”, we ask. It isn’t complicated or out of reach. We answer the call to come, to sit, to wonder and to ask, to listen, to sing the song of his faithfulness, compassion, and steadfast love. We allow him to catch our gaze. The bride may prepare herself in the mirror, but once the groom shows up, her eyes are on him. And may the light and love we know from our encounter with him emerge, shining and spilling over for the benefit of those around us. May our returning flourish.
We may find ourselves carrying a heavy bag of tawdry excuses, reasons to decline the Master’s gracious invitation to fellowship and service, but he invites us to lay that heavy burden down at the cross. “Come,” he says to the guilty one, to the proud one, to the one going through the motions, to the one traveling the desert path hungry, dry, empty, thirsty. His invitation stretches out to all who can identify with any of these feelings.
This is a call to return. The weeds of worry and worldliness may have crowded your life. Life’s well-worn path may have left you weary, and the enemy may have stolen your joy for a time. But here’s what I’ve come to find, here’s what I know: time spent with Jesus is time well spent. Flames are fanned and smoldering wicks are kindled back to life in his presence. Hearts are healed and restored at his feet under his words.
I have a friend who was once asked whether he would want to spend five minutes in Jesus’ presence or be given millions of dollars. His answer struck me – “Five minutes in the presence of Jesus would change a life forever.” Yes, indeed. The other option? Well, money tends to sprout wings and fly away, taking its happiness with it.
This is an invitation to come; to come and meditate; to come in weakness and weariness. This is an offer to come and drink freely, to be filled deeply. This is an invitation to come and know him better — the one who is your first love.
Monday
August 25, 2025
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
— Luke 10:41-42 (NASB)
Prayer is not to the neglect of our responsibilities, but to the efficacy of their fulfillment. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book, “Life Together”, writes about the priority of time spent with Jesus in our busy daily lives. He explains how prayer readies us for our day, “Thus the prayer of the Christian reaches beyond its set time and extends into the heart of his work.” ¹ Prayer doesn’t consume our time, it potentiates its effectiveness. Martha was off course from her true mission; she was distracted by what seemed necessary at the moment. This happens to us as well. Our schedules get out of whack. “I have so much to do today. I just don’t have time to pray.” May I suggest that you don’t have time to not pray?
What effect do the impending responsibilities of your day have on your emotions? Do they worry and bother you?
In what ways does prayer equip us to face the day’s challenges? How have you found solace in your time with Jesus?
Tuesday
August 26, 2025
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
— John 7:37-38 (NASB)
Inside of every human being lies a deep and dormant thirst. As believers our thirst for God has been awakened, causing us to pant after the Spirit of Jesus, the only one who can satisfy our thirst. The Greek word for belly (innermost being) is κοιλία (koilia) and this word comes from another Greek word (κοίλος, koilos) meaning hollow. We have inside of us, a great hollow, a deep cavern drawing after the divine. Jesus offers us, in his presence by his Spirit, not an occasional filling by bucket, but a spring, a source — living water inside of us. He has promised us just as he promised the woman at the well, “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.” Come thirsty, come often, drink deeply, and may your banks overflow to others around you.
Can you describe the feeling of being very thirsty and having that thirst satisfied? How would you parallel this to the experience of having your spiritual thirst satiated?
How do we ensure that the living water is flowing freely in our lives? How might this river of living water within affect those around us?
Wednesday
August 27, 2025
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
— Hebrews 4:16 (NASB)
Who is the one person in this life that you are most honest with? (Not including yourself!) And who is the person who is most honest with you about you? We come to Jesus in our need. And he is perfectly honest with us; perfectly. He speaks the truth in love to us with pure intention out of sufficiency, not deficit. God’s correction does not mean his rejection and the one who knows us best loves us most. He is more honest with us than we are with ourselves. So come; come as you are. Let no excuse rise because of any deficiency in you. He is your first love, and he is waiting for you.
What hampers intimacy with another? What remedy does the Lord provide for us when we fear intimacy with him?
What does it mean to present ourselves to God? What does it mean to receive from him?
Thursday
August 28, 2025
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
— Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
Water gravitates towards its resting place, ever flowing until it settles into stillness. Jesus is our Sabbath rest and when our hearts connect to him, we embrace him, settle in, find stillness of soul. We come to him in our weariness to find strength that may be shared. May we, like Mary Magdalen, search for the Savior, inquire of his whereabouts, and finally find and embrace him. “I come to the garden alone …” ³ And may our hearts beat with the words of the “Beloved” from the Song of Solomon:
I will search for the one my heart loves.
“Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
I found the one my heart loves.
How are our souls like water? What is Jesus inviting us to find in today’s scripture?
Is Jesus’ invitation for us to come a one-time bidding or a continual offer? What does it look like to you to “find” Jesus? What does it look like to come to him?
Friday
August 29, 2025
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
— Psalm 103:8 (NIV)
We come and remember, looking over our lives and seeing our gracious and compassionate God leaning over us to show us benefit every moment in the way. This is grace and it springs up out the character of the one who is slow to anger and abounding in love. He calls us into his chambers to remind us; to cause us to reflect on his goodness. Forgiveness for a panorama of sin. Healing of all manner of disease. Rescue from despair, even when we didn’t realize our hopeless estate. Love and compassion as our headpiece. Renewal. We sing of the goodness of God as in the song:
And all my life You have been faithful
And all my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God ²
As you reflect on the goodness of God, what feelings, if any, rise up in you? What effect does this reflection have on your relationship with Jesus?
Why do you think the Lord wanted the Israelites to remember his great deeds for them? Do you take time in your day to reflect on what the Lord has done for you? How could you get into the habit of doing that?