Notes of Faith April 10, 2025
Remind and Return
Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Revelation 2:4
Reminders are a part of daily life. We enter reminders into our phone or computer calendar, we stick notes on the refrigerator or the bathroom mirror and ask others, “Please remind me to...” Re means “again,” so remind means “to call to mind again.”
Just as we are in danger of forgetting practical things in our life, so we are likely, if we are not careful, to forget our spiritual commitments. Christ admonished the church at Ephesus about that very thing—letting their love for Christ fade over time. They had forgotten the love they had for Christ when they first came to Him in faith. He exhorted them to “repent and do the first works” (Revelation 2:5)—the good works, motivated by love for Him, that characterized the early days of their faith. They needed to remind themselves of their love for Christ and return to it.
The same thing can happen to us if we are not careful. We can grow complacent, and our faith can grow cold. We must encourage ourselves and others to continue in the faith until Christ returns (Hebrews 10:23-25). Begin today by meditating on God’s love for you.
It is possible to be so active in the service of Christ as to forget to love Him.
P. T. Forsyth
The life of a true believer is one of intimate communion and love for and with Jesus. The best efforts in being busy for God fall short of the glory of relationship with God. In our falling short of this mark, let us nevertheless pursue relationship above busyness.
Deuteronomy repeats the command to love the Lord your God, sometimes saying with all your heart and soul, sometimes including might or strength, sometimes including the mind… Mark’s gospel includes them all…
Mark 12:30-31
30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'
Our lives will conform more to the will of God when we focus on doing this command!
Pastor Dale