-John Moraga
Remember your first love. Has it gone cold? Rekindle the fire! Repent and do the deeds you did at first. (Revelation 2:4-5, Matthew 24:12)
I write this article just as much to myself as I do to other sincere followers of Messiah. I become embarrassed and ashamed whenever I am slapped by the ice of my rote relationship with my Lord. Fortunately, this harsh revelation has not been very frequent, but it is an issue I believe must be addressed.
I recall the day I submitted my life to the Lord as an adult ("My Testimony"). I spent the early hours of New Year's day of 2007 uncontrollably sobbing, as I repented of my sins and pleaded for forgiveness. The subsequent days, weeks, and months of this submission, the Holy Spirit fell upon me as a holy fire. I obsessively prayed and read the Scriptures as much as I could. I upset many of my Jewish classmates at the University of Judaism, by sharing my faith with them. During the summer of 2007 I traveled to Israel as part of a short-term missions trip. There, I shared the gospel with Israeli Jews, while I provided aid to Sudanese refugees in the southern country. "Love the Lord your God...love your neighbor as yourself" was my whole existence. My zeal and passion was immeasurable. When I returned to California, I became extremely involved in serving my congregation, and in 2010 I returned to Israel, as part of a legal internship. Since that time, I have continued to grow and mature in my faith, but I have also noticed that at times I can fall into a stale routine.
Forgetting a prayer here and there can lead to going a few days without praying. The soul definitely feels the effects of skipping a Scripture reading or two. Even when prayer and Scripture study routines are maintained, too many opportunities to share the gospel with non-believers can be lost. Understandably, "life" can creep up and increasingly become more of our daily activities and can often lead to distracting us from our walk with the Lord. Personally, I have gotten married and have been raising four children, since my supernatural encounter with the Holy Spirit 13 years ago. However, in no way should that cause me to lose any passion to serve the Lord. On the contrary, I have an even greater responsibility to communion with Him, in order to be a righteous husband and father to my wife and children. When I find myself losing my holy zeal to serve the Lord, I will spend time in deep prayer and meditate on the Word. I cry out to the Lord and intensely focus on the initial experience I had in 2007. I remember my surroundings. I concentrate on some of the places I visited and people I encountered. I pray to the Lord that He would rekindle the fire I had to be bold for Him. I recommit myself to Him and once again offer myself to His service. I pray that His will be done, not mine. I pray that He uses me for His purposes, even if they may bring me additional challenges in my life. I ask for discernment and strength. Finally, I thank Him for the many blessings he has bestowed upon me, which I have overlooked. I thank Him for the deliverance from darkness He has given me, and I ask that I can impart that message to whomever I encounter.
Obviously, our initial encounter with the Holy Spirit is unique and can never be exactly relived. However, we should genuinely strive to keep our holy flame strong throughout our life in this world, until the day we can hear the Lord tell us those sweet words, "well done good and faithful servant."
How about you? Are you honest enough to admit that you too have fallen into a spiritual lake that has frozen over?
"But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent." Revelation 2:4-5
You are not promised tomorrow. Today is the day to remember your first love. Today, rekindle the flame that fell upon you when you first encountered the Holy Spirit. Crank up the Holy fire, and ignite a dark and lost world in desperate need of encountering a loving God who has provided His Son as a path to love and salvation from sin.
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