Your First Love

What—or who—is your first love? It is a question that was jogged in my mind recently as I joined my friend Carmen LaBerge on her daily radio show. Carmen made reference to the late great Keith Green’s song, Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful, which is now nearly 50 years old (I personally find that almost impossible to believe). There is a lyric in the song that says, “Oh Lord, please light the fire that once burned bright and clear.”

It is a lyrical reference to Revelation 2:2-4:

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.”

In other words, “You are doing great in so many ways, and yet, your love for me has grown cold. You have forgotten I am your first love.”

My friend, we talk a lot together about your great mission here on Earth. Scripture is clear: You have a job here, and it is a big one! You are tasked with making disciples of Jesus in every corner of the globe (Matt 28:19-20). It is an active mission, and one that should inform your every moment of every day. It is a mission that presents new challenges and new opportunities on a regular basis.

Even so, it is easy to allow the doing of that mission (as proper and biblical as it is) to overwhelm the relationship that undergirds and informs the mission.

To put it plainly, it is easy to let the intensity of your first love grow cold over time.

God created you first and foremost for His glory (Is. 43:21). He desires your complete and total devotion and worship. He longs for you to be desperately in love with Him first and above all else! He is a jealous God, and scripture is quite clear—He is not content with a love that has grown cold.

He wants more than your deeds; He wants your heart!

It sounds cliché, but it could not be of more significance. This, my friend, is the key to your life’s purpose and legacy. What, or who, is the object of your deepest affection? What, or who, is your first love, and is the flame of that passion as bright as it once was?

If your first love is now something other than Jesus, today is the day to reestablish the priorities of your heart.

If Jesus is your first love, but the fire of your passion has dwindled to a flicker, the solution is not to do more for God. It is to be with Him. It is to return to the passion of your first love for Him.

It is true, you have a mission from God. He sees your faithfulness to that mission and affirms you for it. And yet, He longs for the love you had for Him at first!

Return to your first love. You will find Him waiting and eager to commune with you.

Oh, Lord, You're beautiful
Your face is all I seek
For when Your eyes are on this child
Your grace abounds to me

- Keith Green

​Listen to Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful!

The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.