Devotionals by Dr. M. Craig Barnes
I have this against you, that you abandoned the love you had at first. --
When the Apostle John criticized the church in Ephesus, he said he was impressed with their hard work, toil, endurance, and intolerance of evildoers. But he was very worried they were not still in love with Christ. That's because nothing is more dangerous than religion without love, which usually results in doing quite a bit of evil ourselves. Especially to our own souls.
To doggedly work for Christ without being passionate about him always results in betraying him. Jesus didn't die on the cross so you could kill yourself trying to be messianic. No, he was dying to love you. And the only acceptable response to hearing somebody say, "I love you," is to say, "I love you, too." But the way that we love Jesus has to involve more than a lot of mushy feelings. It is deeper than that. To really fall in love with Jesus is to reorient your life so it revolves around him. It is similar to the experience of young lovers who fall head over heels for each other and can focus only on the other person.
Maybe you once knew that kind of love with Jesus but have allowed the passion to grow dim while you tried too hard to be religious. Forget about being religious. Focus only on Jesus Christ, and eventually you'll find that you are starting to act and even look just like him. Like old lovers who've stayed passionate about each other to their dying day. And beyond.
-- Craig Barnes