Remember Repent Return

I was thinking a lot over this past few weeks about how easy it is to get busy for God and forget why.  I know that is symptomatic of being someone who “makes a living” in the ministry, but I don’t believe that it is limited to pastors like me.  There’s this fine line between doing for God and doing because we know God’s love for us.  One is routine and dry, the other is relationally driven.

Husbands and wives know this tension.  When my wife and I were first married, we just longed to be together, look in one another’s eyes, enjoy conversation and plan for our future together.  It was all we had really!  We were just starting out and had no house and no kids.  I think back to those days with joy.  Even when things were difficult (and, ask her…there were many times like that), we worked things out together by praying and forgiving.  Although every season of our marriage has been wonderful (brownie points), it really all started when all we had was God and one another.

Maybe that’s why Jesus reminds us to return to our “first love” when He is speaking to the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2.  This was a great church that had pure doctrine and faithfulness.  They resisted the false teachings and endured hardship.  This was a church that was planted by the Apostle Paul and later pastored by Timothy.  Imagine sharing that tidbit with your neighbor when they ask you to tell them about the church you are a part of.  Yet…in spite of all the good and noble things, they were called out for walking away from what it was all about.  “You have left your first love…remember…repent…and do the things you did at first.”

When our “doing” is not about what why we do it, we need to repent.  When we are running around for Jesus and fail to connect with His love, we miss the whole point.

Martha gets a bad rap.  I mean, if you know the story she’s the one serving Jesus and the others when He comes over their home.  Meanwhile Mary is sitting at his feet soaking it in.  Back and forth, out of the kitchen and into the living area, finally Martha gets fed up with it.  “Tell her to help me?” she says to Jesus.  I would do the same thing, and you would too.  But Martha gets a bad rap because it’s not about her serving Jesus that is the issue, it’s about why she is serving.  Perhaps it’s out of duty, or because it’s necessary, or just because that’s her type A personality.  Do the things you did at first, Martha! (replace your name here).  Serving is part of the deal, but it’s a response to His love for me.

I have to keep coming back to this.  To remember, repent and return to my first love- to His love for me before I could do a thing to earn it!  When it’s all boiled down, the thing that we should be known for is this: we are people who love Jesus, and who are loved by Him.  Anything else morphs into religion.  Rules without a revelation of God’s love becomes dead religion.  I don’t want that…I want a freshness that causes me to look into His eyes again and experiences His mercy, new every morning.  Selah.

Advertisement