Articles
First Love
I confess to you today that I know better than I do. You can do an honest evaluation of yourself as you read this, which I hope encourages all of us to try harder to do better.
God does care what we know. He instructs us to study to show ourselves approved in how we handle His word which He has given us to guide our daily lives (2 Tim 2:15). He wants us to know right from wrong and good from bad, and to know many things about Him and His nature as well as His will for us. That certainly is important to establish before we discuss what comes next.
But just knowing it, doesn't fulfill our duty. We have to put what we know into action. Not only do we need to make our faith into reality in our lives, but we need to use what we know to navigate the myriad of obstacles we will encounter.
In Revelation 2, Jesus has some praise for the church in Ephesus, that they work hard and hang tough, they don't tolerate wickedness, and they test teachings to weed out false teachers. He says they have "not grown weary, and have persevered through hardships". All of that is well and good, I pray He would say that about us too! BUT, then he says this, "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."
Today, we claim to love Him, we claim to know Him. We may well do many great things in His name. Without question, these are necessary. But are we totally devoted to Him? Is He our first love, our first choice, the one that occupies the first place in our lives? Do we put what we know into action? Does His will supersede our own so that He has first place in everything we do?
James 2:18, "But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."
James 2:26, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.”
