We have many first loves in our lives. Our first girlfriend/boyfriend. Our children each special in their own right. Our best friends and of course our best pets. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention them. Maybe it's your first love that particular meal that set apart a particular restaurant? You may have a first love book that you could read over and over. The list is unending. Tragically, Christians have a difficult time remembering their first love: Jesus. I've been there and done that so I can speak on the subject. Mostly from points of humiliation when I chose to love something worldly when I should have kept my eyes on the One who loves me and died for me so that I could be saved. It's kind of like the frog that gets put into the pot of cold water. He sits there peacefully as the heat is turned up. He adjusts to the heat and doesn't move. Eventually he will be boiled to death. Thank God that he's never put me in a pot of cold water! Satan had many trap doors that have done that rather well. When tempted to give in what is it we stand up for? Is it our first love or is it something/someone else? I've caused God a lot of heartache as I've strayed over the years. Thank you God for loving me still! The journey of life will continually bring many times when we will be tempted to step away from what we know is our source of real life. What do we do?
When I'm on the computer I find myself reading articles of current events. Sometimes I have a warning come up to not open something because it possibly carries a virus. Maybe it's found in an email. Our cyber world is filled with traps. I recently received two emails from different financial establishments that were not valid. The first one was from a bank I've never done business with. The second was crudely done and didn't reflect my banks policy about communication. The Bible serves that purpose as does the Holy Spirit. If we read our Bible daily the word is fresh in our hearts and minds. If we pray and take time to listen to the Holy Spirit we can know that God has a plan that's better than anything we or the world can think up. Perhaps you listen to someone like Eve did with Satan? Maybe it's the gossiper in your church or church group. Perhaps it's the temptation presented by a friend or a co-worker. However the trap door or virus is launched we have the resources at hand to render those sources dead in their tracks. The blood of Jesus covers us, our sin, and our first love. Why, then, do we leave our first love?
I have always been fascinated and in love with the 1985-1990 Mercedes 569 SEL. So, when the chance came to pick up one in really good condition I did so. I had it towed home as the engine was toast. The car is incredible! Even the back seats are heated! So, when the means came about I had the car taken into the mechanic and it's in the end stage of repair so that I can have it actually running. If I take too much time in my day thinking about the car then it's become a first love before Jesus. It's then that the distraction needs evaluation and perhaps gotten rid of. I live, breath and eat Jesus. I don't do the same for the Mercedes in spite of the heated seats. It's just a car that I like, could afford, and drive occasionally. Maybe you have a major distraction called women/men, sex, drugs, smoking, TV, or whatever it is in your life. Do your family, friends and co-workers and enemies see the distraction or do they see Jesus? Remember it's always your choice.
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