“First Love” – Part 1

I want to talk to you about “first love” in a 2-part blog post series.

And let me just define “first love” as we’re starting out.

Do you know what “first love” is?

“First love” is that person or thing that’s #1 in your life. Right? And you just can’t live without that person or thing. And if anyone would dare even think about taking that person or thing from you, you wouldn’t be very happy. And you’ll do anything to keep that person or thing as your “first love.”

EXAMPLES OF “FIRST LOVE”

And for some people, their “first love” is cars. Right? Do you know anybody who loves cars? And everything about them is horsepower and exhaust manifolds and carburators and transmissions and fuel filters and grease. Right? Grease! You can’t leave out grease! Usually someone who loves cars, a clue that they do is they don’t mind a little bit of grease. And even if it’s under their fingernails. Right? Do you know anybody like that – who loves cars? For some people, it’s their “first love.”

And then there are other people whose “first love” is music. These are the people who love to listen to their favorite bands on their iPhones and iPads and iPods. And they like to download the latest songs to their iPhones and iPads and iPods from iTunes. (That’s a lot of i’s!) There are some people whose “first love” is music.

And then there are still others whose “first love,” I was thinking a little bit about something else that might be #1 in a person’s life – I came up with – f-o-o-d – food. Food! Do you know anybody who loves to eat? You can usually tell these types by taking a peek at a certain middle section of their anatomy. Do you know what I’m talking about? (Of course, food isn’t Pastor Mike’s “first love.”)

And there are just so many other things that could be “first love” to a person, including it could be another person whether a boyfriend or girlfriend when you’re young. And girls can get a crush on a teacher or teen idol or movie star. Or she’s a “freshmen” and he’s a “senior.” You’ve heard about that kind of crush?! Maybe you even had one in the past. And it can even happen with the boys, too.

I’m talking about “first love.”

THE EPHESIANS’ “FIRST LOVE”

In the book of Revelation 2:1-7 the first century Christians in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor had God as their “first love.” Christ was #1 to them. And they just couldn’t live without Jesus. And if anyone would dare even think about taking Him from the center of their life, they wouldn’t be very happy. And they’d do anything to keep the Lord their “first love.”

But then something happened to the first century Christians in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor. Something happened and Jesus was no longer their “first love.”

And I guess it could have been cars – or their forerunners, chariots! – that stole the Ephesians’ hearts from Christ. Or it could have been music. Or it could have been food or “crushes.”

But there are even deeper issues than these that can lay hold of a person.

Not that cars, music, food or “crushes” can’t or won’t do it, but I want to talk about deeper issues than these that can capture our affections away from Jesus.

To do so, we’re going to be turning to some important “first love” Bible passages.

And you may have never thought of these as “first love” passages, but they really are.

DEEPER ISSUE #1: MONEY (LOVE OF)

The first passage is found in Luke 18:18-25 where a wealthy, young ruler becomes sad when Jesus asks him to give all his riches to the poor.

And so it is the love of money that’s a deeper issue that can capture our affection away from Christ.

And you can tell when money is a person’s “first love” because it’s the way they measure their worth by how much they make in their job or have in the bank or 401k or the stock market, etc.

Do you know how much money was made by Mother Theresa when she was living and serving all those hurting people in India?

And it might be that a person doesn’t have very much money, but it’s still their “first love.” And the way you can tell is it’s all they talk about and think and focus on. And these live and die on the next lottery numbers!

And the call to action here to keep Jesus as our “first love” is we need to do with our money what God asks us to do. (Are you a tither?)

I’m talking about deeper issues that can capture our affection away from Christ.

The first one is the love of money.

“‘No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.'” (Matthew 6:24)

(To read Part 2 that develops deeper issues #2, 3 and 4 ~ Mom and Dad, Men-Pleasing and Ministry, click here.)

(Picture above is in the public domain: click here.)