Greg Laurie Daily Devotion - Oct. 6, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Back to the Beginning

“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. . . .” —Revelation 2:4–5

Remember when you first came to faith in Jesus Christ? What a joy it was to pray. You never knew that you could talk to God, and you realized that you could call on Him wherever you were, no matter what you were facing. Prayer was a privilege, and you utilized it.

Then there was the Bible. Now you had the Book that told you how to live your life and, most importantly, told you how to get to heaven.

And church? You couldn’t wait to get to church. You would go to a weekend service, a midweek service, and maybe even another service. You would listen to Bible teaching on the radio. You would read Christian books. You couldn’t get enough in your life.

Sharing your faith was easy. It was the overflow of a Christ-filled life. You were always looking for opportunities to talk to someone about Jesus.

You still study the Bible now, but not as much as you once did. After all, you are not so sure you will read anything that you haven’t read before. You will get to it if you find time in your busy schedule.

Prayer is not so much a time of talking with God as much as it is a quick prayer here and there. And sure, you still go to church. In fact, you sit in the same place every Sunday. But if the pastor goes over his allotted time, you are not happy.

You still share your faith—once in awhile. But now, rather than having a conversation about your faith, you feel as though people should simply look at your example as a follower of Jesus.

Have you left your first love? It can happen so easily. Go back and do the things you did at first.

Summary sentence: Have you left your first love? Do you know what you need to do to return?

Tags: Love God, prayer, Bible study, church, sharing your faith

Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

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