By Susan Rasinski

Do you remember when you fell in love with Jesus? The first time you gave yourself over completely to Him? The way you chased after Him, wanting to spend every minute of every day with Him?

I remember that time so well. I was a new believer trying to learn everything I could about my First Love. I wanted to know Him more and more. I couldn’t think of anything else without filtering it through my new found Love. I wanted to please Him and spend time with Him. I told everybody about my Jesus – whether people wanted to hear about Him or not. I knew nothing except that Jesus loved me and that He saved me from hell and an eternity apart from Him.

I didn’t know the Bible inside and outside. I didn’t have verses memorized. I hadn’t heard catchy sermons or learned quirky anecdotes to keep my interest. All I knew was Jesus. I went to bed talking to Him. I woke up aware of His presence. Enthusiastic about my Lord and Savior, I lived life with zeal and vigor.

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”

As I read through today’s scriptures my heart is wounded by my own indifference. I love Jesus and my life belongs to Him. But… but, I am not living a life of zeal and vigor, chasing after my First Love. I have to ask myself, “When did I stop living with the joy of the Lord? How did I allow my relationship with my God to lose its freshness?”

“Repent and do the things you did at first.”

Today I choose to repent and do the things I did at first. I will rejoice in this day and in my Savior. I will pursue my First Love and live this life with renewed joy. I will find my hope and my pleasure in Jesus. After all, the God of the universe takes pleasure in me. Doesn’t that just blow your mind?

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