One of Paul’s letters was to the church at Ephesus. They were spiritual, doctrinally sound, and exemplary in their love for Christ. Then Jesus says to that same church years later, ‘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’ (v.4-5 NLT).

Has your own love for God grown cold? If it has, think back to where you first met Him and seek Him again like you did before pressures of life, worries, and uncertainty had worn you down. We might be so busy doing the work He's assigned us that we neglect our personal time with Him. Three times Jesus asked Peter, ‘Do you love Me?’ Finally, Peter said, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know [the extent to which] I love You’ (John 21:17 NKJV).

Bible teacher Oswald Chambers said, ‘Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him.’ When Peter decided to go fishing that night, he might have been making a decision to get away from everything and go back to where he first met God. That’s a good move! When we get discouraged, we have two choices: we'll either go back to the One who can save, keep, and satisfy us; or we'll go back to whatever was going on in our lives before we met Him. That’s not a good move! The Bible says Peter fished all night and caught nothing. Once we step on that path with Him, our old lives won't fulfil us the way a life with God will.

What Now?

Do the words in Revelation 2:4-5 resonate with you at all? If they do, think back to a time when you felt closest to God, and ask Him to help you renew that feeling every day.