FIRST LOVE

“Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love” Ephesians 6:24

This very last sentence by Paul to the believer’s in Ephesus takes on more significance when we see what Jesus had to say to the Church in Ephesus about 40 years later. They had lost their 1st love for Jesus. There love had grown cold.

Paul lays down a very important principle here which is still very relevant for the church today as it was nearly 2000 years ago. We need God’s grace to stay in love with Jesus. Our hearts are naturally inclined to grow cold in our love for him. Loving him doesn’t come automatically. God’s grace is His empowering presence in our lives. We have to deliberately set our hearts to love him and reset our hearts and in the very act of choosing God releases His grace into our hearts and awakens our hearts to love Him. The sad thing about the Ephesus believer’s is that they didn’t even realize that they had lost their first love. That’s how deceptive our hearts can be. God in his great love comes and rebukes us so we can turn back with a fresh commitment. This needs to happen probably many times in the course of our lives.