Monthly Meditation

Have you ever, in an idle moment, looked at one of those lifestyles quizzes found in glossy magazines? You can find out ... how happy you are, how 'green' you are, or how healthy your diet is.

It may read something like this:

I wonder if we assess our Christian life in a similar way.

Your score ... If you've ticked all the boxes, your answer suggests that you are doing really well in your Christian life.

Or does it?

• They worked very hard as a church, in fact they were tireless.
• They persevered and endured hardship for the sake of Christ.
• They knew and stood up for the truth.

• They were doing all the right things - but with the wrong motives.
• They were doing all the right things - but their love for the Lord had grown cold.

It is so easy for us as Christians to drift into the same sin.

Do you still love the Lord with that same intensity as once you did?
Does the very thought of Him still motivate you to praise, worship and thankfulness?

Or has your love for the Lord cooled over the years?
Has your love for Him settled into a comfortable routine of religious activity - ticking all the right boxes but forgetting why?

How can we re-gain that first precious love?

Revelation 2 v 5 tells us:

"Remember the height from which you have fallen."

Remember how precious the Lord was to you when you first recognised the truth of the gospel.

You were dead in your sin - He gave you spiritual life.
You were heading for hell - He gave you heaven.
He took all the filth of your sin on Himself - and adorned you with His own perfect righteousness.

Remember what Christ has done for you, and then
Repent that your love for Him is so often cold and weak.

Loving God is the heart of the matter.

So, do you "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind"?

Can you say with Peter,

"Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you"?    Yes