December 21

“But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.” Revelation 2:4

The expression “first love” refers not only to primacy in time but also in quality. The story of the prodigal son’s return home tells us that the father called for “the best robe” to be brought to replace the penitent’s rags. This is the same word. The first love is the best love.

The tragedy in this church at Ephesus was that it had left or moved away from that devotion which gave the Lord the first place in their affections. There was, however, a hope. It is not always possible to recover what has been lost, but it is always open to us to return to a position from which we have strayed. The Lord calls each of us who has wandered to come back to the experience of loving him best, to return to our first love.