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Do you remember your first love? Memories take me back to Grade 6 in my final year of primary school at St. Scholastica's across the border in Melbourne, Victoria with many hours of fun on the playground while spending time with a boy by the name of Kieran who made me laugh and was a real joy to be around. To my delight and respect he was also intelligent as he excelled academically. Then in secondary school there was a big crush on the history teacher which had nothing to do with this subject at all. Oh the pleasant memories of daydreaming while gazing at Mr. Schubert instead of focusing on the lessons given. It was an unfamiliar giddy feeling with the sudden surge and release of hormonal endorphins floating around while awakening desires to be with that person based on what they looked like and their behaviour in how they treated me. Children and teenagers can be so certain and will even argue that these feelings for the object of their affection will last forever because the experience is so powerful, yet these strong desires proved to be fleeting and are just pleasant, if awkward memories of a time spent learning about attraction to the opposite sex. Thankfully we mature and learn from these experiences.
As an adult, even a senior one at that, having my first love again is something that I had never considered or even contemplated all my life. Unlike the previous first love which was physically motivated, this time it is a spiritually motivated first love for God. You may have heard of this term from the Bible when spoken of in Revelation 2:4 where the Ephesian church is admonished for losing their first love. This is a disaster and a timely warning from God for us not to lose our first love! Have you lost your first love? Do you remember what it was like having your first love when you were called and baptized? Perhaps you are still full of zeal as you are young in the faith? How about all the long-timers who have been out in the fields going about their Father's business for 20, 30, 40, or even 50+ years -- are you getting tired and weary, or wonder if you will even finish your race as you face multiple challenges especially those pesky trials pre Passover? Whether we are young or mature in the faith one thing is for sure -- we need to protect and hold on to our first love, and we know this is possible otherwise the admonition in Revelation 2:4 would not be there. Have you considered your first love and whether it is in healthy condition or at risk of being diminished until it is no longer with you? Just how do we know we still have our first love?
Those who have their first love have nurtured it perhaps without even realizing this by putting one foot in front of the other while delighting in their close relationship with God through faith building moments which keep the momentum going. Many still have their first love while many do not. Keeping things focussed and simple helps, as does fresh, fervent, meaningful, heartfelt prayer. It is the daily relationship we maintain with God that helps keep our first love blooming and blossoming. As our relationship develops with many layers formed through tests, trials, blessings, and countless counselling moments we are in the process of being shaped by our Master Potter as He holds us, the clay, in His hands in order to support, protect, and provide for us (Isaiah 64:8). We just need to trust the process of being perfected by the supreme One who is completely perfect. This experience of having our first love could be likened to being on fire eager to please God through our faithful obedience, even if we do not understand why certain things happen to us now and again.
Whatever the analogy, we know that listening to God AND doing what He says are the most important things in the world, in our lives, in our hearts and minds (James 1:22, Matthew 7:24 Romans 2:13). Having God as our best friend is incredibly amazing and so we talk to Him throughout the day sharing all the fun stuff as well as the sad stuff. Actually, anything and everything. Don't you just love the way God reminds you that He is watching us through all sorts of situations that transpire during our wakeful hours? These things cannot be orchestrated or engineered by anyone except God because of the timing, the quality, the quantity, the precise way He organises our blessings, and the amazing specificity of the exact blessing we may have just prayed for. There are so many that could be mentioned but for the purpose of brevity just one item from the past week will be mentioned here. One morning I woke to significant pain, so much so I couldn't think straight or walk comfortably. Praying on my knees for a very brief time the pain then completely vanished as if someone had flicked a switch. God does these things and I am finding out by realising that if we ask instead of keeping things to ourselves -- as I have been guilty of doing at various times over the years -- He intervenes pretty much straight away as He wants to help. Therefore I urge you not to even waste a minute as going to God straight away is always the best policy.
Some of us may find it hard to ask for things from God even though they are spiritual things that are always designed for our benefit. What does God have to say? Matthew 7:11 provides "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" Notice James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning". Also, Psalm 84:11 "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly", and Psalm 34:9 "Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him". Romans 8:32 so beautifully stipulates "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"
It takes faith. Why not ask God for faith building moments if you lack these? Your part is to pray for these as though you know they have already happened with the development of the deepest trust and faith in God showing unwavering confidence in His ability to bring these to pass. Tell God you need a boost or extra help to start off if you are having difficulty as this does not come naturally. Remember the unnamed man in the Bible who prayed "God help my unbelief?" You can also say "God my Father I am willing, please help my unbelief in this petition and help build it so that eventually I will develop greater faith to the point where my faith can move mountains". This wonderful example of healing from the Bible is found in Mark 9:23-24 "Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes". Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” The child was healed because the father was willing to humble himself but recognised that within himself he did not have the power or the level of faith he knew he required, but knew Jesus did.
First love is all about listening, doing, believing, trusting, communicating, and developing the closest relationship with God we can in deep humility with a teachable attitude full of healthy respectful awe/fear while in physical human form as we await our change to spiritual form. Imagine waking up each day excited to know God is with you, being thankful and expressing thanks to Him for another day of life, then each night before sleep, having and enjoying our last wakeful moments talking to God as we willingly lose consciousness. Then there are all the moments in between that we talk to our Best Friend as things transpire while we are being constant in prayer because His presence never leaves us and we love to share everything because He loves hearing from us. As we prepare for the 2021 Passover now is the best time to give God all of our hearts and minds for His way of righteous living in order to kindle or rekindle and stir up our first love to burn ever so brightly so that God is pleased, moved, touched, and continues to delight in His joy for His children as we learn to love like He loves us. God can work with anyone when we allow Him to complete His work in us as Philippians 1:6 reveals. While we engage in thorough self examination we need to eagerly affirm to hold onto our first love and develop this daily with help from God's Spirit.