Have We Lost Our First Love?

There is a phenomenon that is gripping the Church of today. It manifests itself in the love of money, and coveting. We are no longer happy, or content with what God gives us. What we have is a lust for more. I have heard of some ministers telling their congregants to speak to their wallets, so they will get more money. Is this the answer? Have we created formulas to get money that are non-working, and completely absurd? There are so many get rich quick sites on the Internet proclaiming great revenue for buying this, or that product. I'm not against doing business, but there comes a time when we have to draw the line. What are we going to do with all of the new money we're going to make? It seems that all we are concerned about is getting that new vehicle, a bigger house, and the latest gizmo for our children. I have found that the pursuit of these things does make us happy, we can have all the money in the world, but that is not going to make us happy. What will make us happy? For many that answer remains hidden from us. We have wandered so far from the truth, and have lost our way. We have forgotten the true source of happiness and joy: God. The bible mentions(Jesus speaking) in the Book of Revelation, that the people had lost their first love. They had forsaken God, and were in danger of having their lamp stand removed which would mean being blotted out of the Book of Life. Revelation 2: 4,5. Our first love is our relationship with God, and for some of us that relationship is non-existent. We've stopped seeking his face, and are only concerned about the things we can get. How does God feel about this? He's probably very hurt and angry. He's our Father, and that is no way to treat a father. We have done evil, succumbed to temptation, and have displayed apathy to God, our families, and others. We care very little about those who are less fortunate than ourselves. If we read in Matthew 25:31-46 we see that Jesus is more concerned about what we did for the least of the people than going to Church, reciting the sinners prayer, having bible studies, sermons, or any other religious activity. Truly God wants us to return to him for healing, deliverance, salvation, and true prosperity. When we take God out of the equation we are left with nothing. We have no direction or purpose, and doing his will means little to us. We care only about our own needs, and wants being met. Our apathy towards a hurt and dying world grieves God's heart. We care only about our own little world around us, Church on Sunday with friends, and heaven forbid if a street person straggles in. I heard a minister say that God won't trust his new born babes to faulty incubators. Isn't that what most congregations are? Did Jesus say, go into all the world and make, Christians? Rich folk? of all nations? He said to make disciples of all nations, what is a disciple? Someone who studies, and is taught by a leader, or a mentor. There is very little mentoring, or discipleship in the body of Christ. Why? Because we don't care about the needs of hurting people, we don't have the time for the least of these. Until we get our first love back we will never be happy. We may also lose our standing with God. Come back to the Father, he is the only one who knows our running system, he'll take all the viruses out, he can have us running in top notch condition in no time if only we surrender to him. Life was meant for enjoyment and fun, and without God we will not experience either. So, how do we do it? Well how does a man and woman fall in love? They spend time with each other. We will never come to know God in an intimate way unless we spend time with him. For most of us we're too busy for God. He wants us to talk to him like we would with a good friend. He is interested in every detail of our lives, and he wants to guide us in making the right decisions so we can be happy. Try talking to God for ten or fifteen minutes a day. Talk about whatever is on our heart, he's a very good listener, and he won't interrupt us. Spend time alone with him, away from the distractions of life, no TV, no computer, just him and us. When we take a baby step and decide to spend just a short time with him he will begin the process of drawing us closer to him. There is no telling what can happen in those meetings with him. I encourage all of us to draw close to the Father, he is waiting patiently for his children to come home. Don't grieve his heart any longer, come to him warts, and all, and he will clean us up and put joy and happiness deep within our hearts. The Father is waiting, won't you come?