“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love”– Revelation 2:4
LIGHT FOR NOW: God’s love for man is unconditional, unearned and undeserved.
The love of God was demonstrated by the death and resurrection of Christ and it remains the bedrock of the Christian love walk. God never placed a demand on us to love him first before he could love us. God’s love for us was not a reaction to our love for him. The scriptures reveal God’s desire for us to receive and know his love. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. Observe Revelation 2:4 again “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love”. This is similar to what John said in 1John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us”. The word “him” here was not in the original manuscript. This is obviously based on the fact that the context of his discussion was about love amongst believers, not God. So a better rendering would state it as “we love, because he first loved us”. This text is similar to Revelation 2:4 and shows that God was the initiation of love. When the word “first love” was used he was actually referring to God’s love for us.
Revelation 2:4 “…left your first love” means to neglect God’s love for you. God’s love is the first love. Observe Revelation 2:5 “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent”. The word “repent” was mentioned twice in verse 5 and it means to change one’s mindset. This further stresses the fact that John was addressing a wrong mindset. Their negligence of God’s love for them affected their work towards others. This was what he described as first works and this is never God’s will for us in Christ. Once our attention is on the depth of the father’s love for us, we will find it easy expressing the same to others around us. Glory!
INSTRUCTION: Ponder on God’s love for you.
CONFESSION: I am loved by God and I acknowledge this, in Jesus Name, Amen
QUOTE: God’s love is the greatest.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: JOHN CHAPTER 2; EVENING: JOHN CHAPTER 3
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 