There has been a time in my life when I was pretty messed up. A lot of times I was depressed and even felt lonely and lost when I was among other people.
Then one night, I had a revelation, that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God, that he loves me and that he wants me to follow him.
Although I still had a lot of problems I was generally happy and did spend a lot of time with the Lord. It all was a great and exciting adventure. Jesus had become the center of my universe.
Then one Thursday afternoon I found myself sitting in a church meeting thinking about a computer problem that I had at home. All the time I was looking at the clock and I was anxious to get home. I remember, realizing this and being shocked. Suddenly I was not interested in what was said anymore.
That night I went home very worried. What had happened?
There is a scripture in the book of Revelations that is talking about something similar:
Revelation 2.2-5
“ 2 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.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you have forsaken the love you had at first.
5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. …“
This is a letter to a whole church of loveless believers. The same thing had happened to them. There had been a shift in priorities. Jesus was not the center of their universe anymore. Now he was somewhere on the outside.
Of course this is not something that happens intentionally. It is the same as if we are in love with someone. Over time the first excitement and romance settles down and our daily worries and troubles take their toll.
The Lord Jesus describes this very well in the “Parable of the sower”
Matthew 1. 3 – 23
(…) 3 A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.’
(…) 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to people who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to people who hear the word and understand it. They produce a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.’
So here I was. My love for the Lord had grown cold and I was obviously not alone with this problem.
Timothy was a young pastor in the city of Ephesus in what is now Greece. He had come there with the apostle Paul and they had started a church. Paul had left after a while and Timothy stayed behind to be the pastor there.
In one of his letters to Timothy Paul writes:
2. Timothy 2. 3 – 7
3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4 No-one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs; rather, they try to please their commanding officer.
5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.
6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.
7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
Paul is encouraging Timothy to set his priorities right. To focus on the task at hand and to not be distracted or discouraged. Maybe he was getting distracted when he was there by himself. Too much work, too much opposition.
Many people think they can rekindle their love for Jesus by attending a Christian Conference or by going to Church more often. Some try listening to some Christian music on the radio. Some might read a Christian book.
Unfortunately this will not work. It will just give us some religious feelings.
It would be that same like if your marriage is in trouble. Your wife and you don’t talk to each other anymore and you both live your separate lives. Buying her flowers and taking her out to dinner only once will not fix it.
Following Jesus is not about religion but about relationship. There is not a huge list of “things that you have to do”. The scripture in Revelation gives the answer:
The first step is to remember what it was like when our love for Jesus was still new and the relationship was alive. How did it feel? What was I thinking? How did I tell others about it?
Then we need to repent. This is the only thing we need to do to get right with God. Jesus has died on the cross and He rose again from the dead to make this possible. We need to ask the Lord for his forgiveness and we have to do it in words. Not just thoughts. He loves to hear our voice.
Lastly, we do the things we did at first. This is different for each one of us.
Whatever made your relationship with Jesus special, it is time to do those things once again.
Maybe this is something we have to do over and over again. It does not matter. When we make Jesus the center of our universe again, He will take care of the rest. Our relationship to him will be renewed and our love for Him will grow stronger…
Photo Credits:
“Two trains took divergent paths…” http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/2387565844/
“in the words of George Formby—’’turned out nice again!!’’ http://www.flickr.com/photos/skitzitilby/2465625444/
“The Bonding – Father and son take a walk” http://www.flickr.com/photos/tweng/2130975956/
All released under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License