“Remember therefore from where you have fallen;
repent and do the works you did at first;
if not, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from
its place, unless you repent.”
– Revelation 2:5 (ESV)

I want you to strap into your time machine of youthful memories and recall the hours and hours you spent in simple pleasure. Maybe it was making miraculous plays as you lost yourself in a one-man game of wall ball. Or it might have been an exhausting game of tag that you could’ve played forever had the sun not set and Mom’s call to supper ended play. Running, jumping, sliding, and laughing tirelessly! Not competition, just the pure love of play. As we grow older, the memories can fade as we become consumed with winning, being the best and never taking a day off from training. It’s all too easy to lose the real reason we fell in love with sports. The routine of childhood can often become lost with the passing of time. Our first love of playing can be overrun by all-consuming competition.

Now I want you to climb into your time machine of memories regarding your journey of faith. Do you remember that feeling you had when you truly understood that you could have a personal relationship with Jesus? Can you remember the joy you felt when you shared your decision to follow Christ with your parents, a youth leader, or your best friend? How many hours did you spend trying to come to terms with what it means to have Jesus at the center of your life? It’s all too easy to lose this passion as we become spiritually sophisticated. As we mature in our faith, we often exchange the pure love of spending time with Jesus for the trappings of being religious. We can lose ourselves in the busyness of church activities and programs while forgetting the reason we decided to be a Christ-follower in the first place. Have you lost some of that joy you first experienced years ago? It is never too late to turn back and recapture that lost excitement for Jesus.

Lord Jesus, You love me and desire to be in relationship with me. Help me to put our relationship first today and every day. Amen.