“I would like you to once again pursue your first love. Do you remember how wonderful Our times together were? I remember when I would reveal something to you and you would dig into My Word with an enthusiasm that I haven’t seen for a long time. You were in awe of everything I showed you. Remember how some of you used to be thrilled to show anyone the road to salvation and reconciliation with Me? There was no drudgery about Our relationship. There was no concern about hurting someone’s feeling or robbing them of their time. You had found the greatest thing you had ever known and bubbled with excitement over everyone you met. If you couldn’t reach them, you prayed for them. We really had fun together. What happened? Why have I become commonplace with some of you?
“I realize that for many of you, Our relationship has progressed into one of intimacy. I also realize that you are focusing on maturity, becoming holy for Me. I am very pleased with that and do consider it very important. I would ask you, however, to remember Our first love together. Holy people are not prune-faced. Someone intimately in love exudes joy and wonder. I understand your times of labor. I understand those times of death to your flesh. It is impossible to remain exuberant all the time. I understand. But what about those other times, times when We are just walking together?
“Allow Me to renew your joy. Let’s rejoice. Let’s enjoy each other. I love who you’re becoming, but I also love who you are at this very moment. As you prepare for what lies ahead, remember what is important now. Most important to Me is being with you. Let’s renew the wonder of Our relationship. Not only will it be fun for Us, but everyone will wonder what you are up to. Then you can tell them about Me, and smile while you are doing it. You can tell them about the incredible part!”
1 Corinthians 1:2-9 NIV
2) To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Lord and ours:
3) Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4) I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.
5) For in him you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking and in all your knowledge –
6) because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.
7) Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
8) He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9) God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Rev. 2:3-5 NIV
3) “You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4) Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5) Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first…”
Have you ever seen the glow of someone who is first in love with Jesus? They are electric with heavenly light, especially those who come from some kind of deep darkness. I remember sometimes avoiding some of them because they were so overwhelming in their love. Being with them, one had to set aside any feelings of embarrassment. They cared little about what anyone thought. They were in love, and they wanted the world to know about it.
Have you ever wondered where they went? What happened to them? What happened to the enthusiasm, the wonder, the belief in the Word and its power? What happened to the life of Jesus that was so evident in everything they did? Where did it go?
Before you think that I am pointing at anyone else, you need to know that I am looking in a mirror first. The Lord is convicting me about my life.
When I first got saved, I used to hang around with some fanatics because I was crazy in love with Jesus. Some other saved reprobates and I dared to believe what we read in the Bible and expected it to come true in our lives. Funny thing was that it often did!
We saw more incredible stuff - from miracles to healings to salvations to… you name it and it happened. We’d lay hands on anything that moved or stood still. Skin would grow over exposed bones, hearing would come back, and lives would be changed. Prayers were expected to be answered, and they were.
I remember when someone called me to pray over his used car business. He hadn’t sold a car in months. (They were really “tired iron.”) Foolishly, I spent about two hours “anointing” every one of them with oil. I really believed in my heart that they would sell, even though the salespeople made fun of me from the showroom. The next day, I got a call from the man who initially called me to pray. He told me that he had sold the whole lot full of cars and his whole business that very morning. Right out of the blue, someone walked in off the street and made him an offer for all of it. We giggled at the wonder of God.
Gotta get back to that kind of wonder,
Jim Corbett
