4 But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me]. – (Revelation 2:4 AMP)

This past weekend in my personal devotional hour I was going over the context of the verse above, and it really spoke to my heart as I thought on its contents.

If you’ve never read it in its entirety, it begins with The Lord Himself addressing The Leader (Angel/Pastor) of that particular church.

In his address, The Lord commends them for all of the good that they’ve done, and the good that they “are” doing.

If you look at all the things that they were commended for, you would quickly get the opinion that these people were on point and had it altogether.

They suffered patiently; they persevered; they didn’t tolerate those who were evil, and they exposed those who weren’t authentic (apostles).

They didn’t grow weary, and they endured many things… and they did it all for His namesake… “you have persevered and endured hardships for my name”….(NIV)

Yet, in spite of all of that, The Lord had one thing against them…”But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” (NLT)

Putting it simple, They Neglected to Keep God First (in Love),  even in spite of all that they were doing (God sees).

We’re living in a day and time in which it’s so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life in an effort to meet the demands of everyday living.

As a result, our priorities can Easily get twisted and we’ll find ourselves “majoring on the minors, and minoring on the majors…”

We lose sight of our Maker, and the One who is absolutely the Most essential to our existence, The Lord Jesus Christ.

Here’s some good news though: There’s Hope.

He said to the Angel of this Church, “….repent and perform the deeds you did at first.”(vs. 5 BSB)

If you remember what it was like to Give God first place, I encourage to Make Him first again….. And Keep Him First.

You’ll be Blessed that you did.

Father, you are so worthy of First place in our lives. We pray today that, daily, you will help each of us to Put you first and keep you first in the strength that You alone can give…

In The Love Of The One Who First Loved Us,

Pastor Lowe