Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ~Revelation 2:4
First Love
Let me talk very intimately and very earnestly with you about Him who is dearer than life. Do you really want to live your lives, every moment of your lives, in His Presence? Do you long for Him, crave Him?
Do you love His Presence? Does every drop of blood in your body love Him? Does every breath you draw breathe a prayer, a praise to Him?
Do you sing and dance within yourselves, as you glory in His love? Have you set yourselves to be His, and only His, walking every moment in holy obedience?
We have too long been prim and restrained. The fires of the love of God, of our love toward God, and of His love toward us, are very hot.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and mind and strength.” Do we really do it? Is love steadfastly directed toward God, in our minds, all day long?
Do we intersperse our work with gentle prayers and praises to Him? Do we live in the steady peace of God, a peace down at the very depths of our souls, where all strain is gone and God is already victor over the world, already victor over our weaknesses?
Are our lives unshakable, because we are clear down on bed rock, rooted and grounded in the love of God? This is the first and the greatest commandment.
Thomas R. Kelly (1893-1941), Quaker Educator. A Testament of Devotion
Photograph of Tahoe Meadows, South Lake Tahoe, CA
