First Loves and Strawberry Lipgloss

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strawberry lipglossTo the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 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. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

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. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:1-7

My first girlfriend was Laurie. We met in junior high. She was the new girl at our school, and everyone took notice. Without saying too much, she also was the first girl I kissed. Yes, strawberry lipgloss. Its funny how almost every thought in that season was about her, love, and strawberry lipgloss.

Every message to the churches contain a commendation, condemnation and recommendation. Ephesus was a hard-working and discerning church. They were smart and industrious for the Lord. They also had gone through some tough hardship and endured without getting weary. But, they had lost or left the love they once had. This key ingredient was now gone. They needed to consider what a great tragedy that is. Love is the only thing that matters. Repent and do (love) what you did at first, or else. What a reminder to all churches that love is main thing. And the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

How about me? Is love still the main thing. That’s how I started in my relationship with God. Is Jesus still as attractive and personal and do I think about Him and His word like strawberry lipgloss? Do I rely upon Him moment by moment?

Dear Lord Jesus, You really are to me all together wonderful. I feel like the busyness of leading a dynamic church and school and contending with false people are part of the job. And I am doing pretty good. But, that deep down hunger for long extended time of reflection and prayer and reading of the Bible is not burning right now. Let’s create the opportunity this week for a whole day together. Sort of a date night.

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