We are in my favorite time of year. Where I live in Pennsylvania, USA the weather has turned cold and crisp. The leaves on the trees have turned incredible colors and have now fallen and snow flurries are starting to fly. Many of the national and regional gatherings in our ministry have finished and our hearts are glowing with the joy of having been with old friends and making new ones. Final preparations for Christmas are in full swing with all of it’s pomp and ceremony and of course the new year is directly ahead of us.

With so much having culminated, so much still to celebrate and so much to look forward to in the future, it can also quite frankly be exhausting. It can be easy to get to a point of just going through the motions and lose some of the wonder and passion of this season.

In the letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes of how their life and testimony caused him to be thankful and rejoice. He specifically mentions their work of faith, labor of love, and patience in hope.

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 NKJV)

In the letter that Jesus instructs John to write to the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:2, He says that He acknowledges their work, labor and patience but that they were missing something very important.

“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;” (Revelation 2:2 NKJV)

What was missing in Ephesus was being postured in their first love, Jesus says they had left it. They were faithfully doing a lot of good things! They were in alignment with God’s heart in so many areas. Yet they had lost the spark of their first love. Could it be that they had started to perform their work without faith, their labor without love and their patience without hope?

Paul writes to the Corinthians that it is these three things that will actually outlast everything else and that ultimately really matter.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV)

Are there areas in your life with Christ that are just going through the motions? Have you lost the spark and left the posture of your first love? Have the cares of this life and a lot of really good activity somehow caused it to diminish or be entirely forgotten?

In this season there is an invitation to return to your First Love. To again do the first things and the first work before it got complex or complicated. To again pursue works of faith, labors of love, and patience of hope.

“Heavenly Father, thank you for your word that reminds us of our First Love, You, and reminds us to do the first things that you desire to do with us. Ignite hearts again and connect us to faith, hope and love for the sake of Your glory. In Jesus Name.”