Devotions
Remember the First Love
Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works – Revelation 2:4-5 (NKJV)
The Warning Sign
When I moved to Canada some years ago,
I was told that I should strictly respect road signs if I didn’t want to lose
my driver’s license. My friends advised me to be more careful and reduce my
speed since I tend to over-speed. For the first few months, I made sure to
follow the speed limit.
But I realized that many drivers did
not abide by the set speed limit. They would drive past me like lightning on
the highway, and sometimes I felt like a tortoise. At some point, I got tired,
and I said to myself that if they can over-speed, why can’t I? So, I threw out
all the precautions, attention, and respect.
Then one day, I felt in my spirit that
the Holy Spirit rebuked me. He said, do you think that because many drivers
over-speed makes it less of an offence? He then added that this is how
Christians are (not all of course); they start high and slowly go downward
concerning obedience to the Word of God.
The Spiritual Parallel
That conversation with the Holy Spirit
reminded me of the days when we first got saved. Anyone who received the Lord
by the conviction of the Holy Ghost can relate to it. We burned with the zeal
to serve the Lord. We hated anything that came closer to being called a sin.
Some could not even look at the opposite sex without rebuking all the demons of
carnal sin. Jesus calls it the first love. The fire of the Spirit consumed us.
But as time passed, things changed;
slowly, our first love went cold and got replaced by our daily routine,
compromise, and excuses.
This is not written to accuse anyone
or to take the place of the Spirit’s conviction. Only the Spirit can convince
you and me of our wrongdoings. I don’t want to play the devil either, the
accuser of our brethren, who always walks with a notepad as not to miss even
our slightest mishap so he can brandish them into our faces.
I am just stating the fact: there are
Christians who openly live in sins, who cheat, steal, and do all kinds of evil
deeds, who are idle in church or indifferent to the needs of the work of God.
They have lost their first love.
The Reason We Grow
Cold
From that warning, the deeper question
becomes personal: how does a heart that once burned with love for God begin to
justify distance, compromise, or spiritual indifference?
What makes Christians lose the first
love? We can say it is Satan and it will be true. However, we also have to
acknowledge that devil or no devil, the last say belongs to you and me. It will
always be a matter of the choice we make.
The main reason people grow cold is
the wrong perception, a subconscious perception, that there is no difference
whether you do good or bad since those who do bad seem to get away unharmed,
and those who do good seem to reap no benefit.
When one’s conviction is not deeply
rooted, that is when they say, like Asaph, “In vain I have kept my heart
pure and have washed my hands in innocence” (Psalm 73:13 NIV). Why should I
obey since nothing happens to those who don’t? They even look more prosperous
than me! What difference does it make if I am zealous or not? I gain nothing; I
have nothing more!
Let not what happens to others affect
you. Whether something or nothing happens to them because of their lifestyle,
it is between them and their God. And for you, live your life as if you are the
only living human here on earth; be only concerned by what is happening between
you and your God.
The Call to Return
As I said before, my inner
conversation with the Spirit challenged me. I felt bad and humbled, because it
affected me at a personal level, in my spiritual walk with the Lord. The fact
that many people over-speed does not make it any less of an offence. And the
fact that I was never caught by any camera or policeman, does not make me less
of an offender before the law.
That is how we deceive ourselves.
Because God is still patient towards our sins, we become accustomed and say, “The
Lord does not see; the God of Jacob takes no notice” (Psalm 94:7 NIV). But
He sees, and He will punish (Psalm 94:8-10).
As Christians, we must fight that
tendency of growing somehow tolerant to sins. Jesus expects that believers grow
in love as the days pass, that we love Him more and walk farther away from
sins. He wants us to burn with the zeal to serve Him more than how it was when
we accepted Him.
It is only through sincere repentance that we can retain our first love and the fire of the Spirit. Everyone should self-examine, repent where they have fallen and return. The call of the Holy Spirit today is, “Repent and do the first works.” And, “Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart” (Hebrews 3:15).
Posted : Oct 05, 2026