FIRST LOVE

Do you remember what it was like the first time you fell in love. That wonderful feeling you got every time that certain someone walked into a room. The way you felt when you heard their voice, even just hearing someone speak their name. The way it felt the first time you realized they felt the same about you? They were all you talked about, all you thought about.

In fact, you probably drove everyone crazy, just talking about your new love and how wonderful they were. When they were near you couldn’t take your eyes off of them. You couldn’t wait to spend time together. When you were together, the time went much too quickly. You read their letters over and over again, until the pages were worn and barely readable. It didn’t matter, you knew them by heart anyway. Everything you had was theirs and vice versa. You told yourself there wasn’t anything you wouldn’t do, nowhere you wouldn’t go for that one you loved. First love . . . there’s nothing quite like it.

But as time wears on, we gradually begin to take that person for granted. It’s not that we intend for it to happen. It’s just that once that certain someone’s heart has been won, once they’ve become an everyday part of your life and you settle down into an ordinary, everyday routine, you find your relationship begins to cool. You never meant for it to happen. You don’t mean to ignore them, or push them into the background. It’s just there’s so much to do. After all, they’ll always be there, right?

Then, one day, you wake up and you wonder what happened. Yours was the love story that would never end, but suddenly you realize that you’ve spent too much time chasing other things. Somehow you’ve lost touch with each other in the process. The only way to rebuild that relationship is to go back to the beginning, remember those feelings, remind yourself of all the things that made you love that person in the first place and allow God to rekindle that love you first felt for that person.

Now let me ask you, do you remember what it was like when you first fell in love with Jesus? How you felt when you first realized how much He loves you? Are you as much in love with Him now as you were when you first met Him? Are you still so excited by the thought of Him that you can’t wait to tell everyone about Him? Do you read His love letters to you, the Scriptures? Is He still the most important someone in your life? Or has your relationship with Him begun to cool? Have you become so involved in the unimportant, superficial routine of everyday living that you’ve lost the personal fellowship you once had? These are the questions that touch the very heart of what it means to be a Christian?

Just as in any relationship, just ‘being there’ is no substitute for a real, personal relationship. We take a great risk when we allow our eyes to wander in our earthly relationships. We take an even greater risk when we take our eyes off Jesus. We run the risk of idolatry, another word for the spiritual adultery we commit when we wander away from the Lover of ur souls.

How can you recapture that love you first felt for the Lord? Go back to the beginning. Remember where you were when He found you. What He did for you. How He brought you from the darkness to the light. Repent and turn away from those things that have taken your eyes off Him. Begin spending quality time with Him again. Listening to Him. Worshiping Him.

As Oswald Chambers once wisely said, ‘Never allow anything to fuss with your relationship to Jesus Christ, neither Christian work, nor Christian blessing, nor Christian anything. Jesus Christ, first, second and third. And surely you will form the mind of Christ and become one with Him, as He is One with the Father.’

Remember, too much of even a good thing can be wrong if it distracts you from your devotion to Christ. © 1999 Rachel Whelan