March 15, 2012 | Leave a comment Today, Thursday March 15, 2012, is the twentieth day of preparing our hearts, souls and minds for the most high of all Christian holy days, Easter Sunday. Today I need to “put off” forsaking my first love and “put on” fervent devotion. Jesus told the church at Ephesus ; 4 . . . I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Revelation 2:4–5 (NIV) This sanction from Jesus should still the heart of anyone who claims to be a Christian. His chief complaint against this church is that they have “forsaken their first love.” Leaving their first love resulted in the Ephesian Church having fallen a great distance from Christ. The way back from this divide is to repent and once more do those things which they did at first. If repentance does not occur then Jesus Himself will remove the Ephesian church’s lampstand from it place (meaning the Spirit will leave this church resulting in its lifelessness). Today I need to “put off” forsaking my first love and “put on” fervent devotion. I believe that too many Christians and churches are spiritually in the same place where the Ephesians found themselves. Furthermore, I believe that the reason why so many churches seem lifeless is because they are. Jesus has removed the churches lampstand but they have been so spiritually cold for so long that no one noticed. We need to repent and return to our first love! What we need is to become devoted to Jesus! The Greek word standing behind this concept of devotion comes from two Greek words (pros) which means “towards” and is used intensively in this Greek word and (kartere’), which means “to be strong, to endure in, or persevere in, to be continually steadfast” with a person or thing. This Greek word should be translated “devotion,” “devoted to,” or “obsessed with” in English and is used for; Being devoted to or obsessed with continuing in prayer with others; 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. Acts 1:14 (ESV) Being devoted to or obsessed with the Apostles’ teaching; 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Acts 2:42 (ESV) This kind of devotion endures and perseveres. Forsaking our first love is the opposite of being and remaining devoted to Christ. This type of devotion that every Christian should have for Christ is spoken of directly by Paul to the Corinthian church. 3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NLT) The idea is that we should not take it for granted that our love for Jesus will remain pure and fervent without our giving it any attention whatsoever. We take Jesus and our love for Him for granted. The false assumption that our love for Christ will remain strong and vital without our continual and undivided devotion will lead us to be deceived just as was Eve. These false assumptions concerning our love for Jesus are why I need to “put off” forsaking my first love and “put on” fervent devotion. Pray right now and ask Jesus to forgive you of not loving Him as fervently as you once did and devote yourself to love Him more and better from this day forward. Don’t take His love for you or your love for Him for granted. P.S. Today is also the Ides of March. The term “ides” was used on the Roman calendar for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of all the other months. In ancient Rome the Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to Mars, the Roman god of war so a military parade was usually held. Today, however, the Ides of March is known as the day when Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate led by Brutus, and Cassius. This fact of history should remind us all of the temporariness of life. If the most powerful man in the world Julius Caesar could not prevent his own life from being taken how much more should you and I prepare ourselves for that time when our lives are taken. Today, we need to “put off” forsaking Christ as our first love and instead “put on” a fervent devotion to Christ because when our lives are over we will be eternally glad we did having assured yo presence and citizenship in the kingdom of God which will have no end; and we will also be prepared to properly and obediently celebrate this Easter.