Digging Through the Trash.

 A few nights ago, my friend was at our house pretty late and was about to head home. She went to the door to grab her purse, keys, and shoes ... and her keys were no where to be found! She looked in her purse a billion times, peeked in her car and around it, retraced her steps throughout our home. We looked in couch cushions and under tables, and concluded that they were GONE! Finally she looks at me and says "Uh-oh, I think I know where they are.... in the trash!" And I'm like "What!!! How!???" Apparently, she had brought her dinner over and threw her keys away inside the bag of food when she was done. Now, getting her keys out of the trash was a bit of a problem because I had my birthday party that night and we had gone through quite a few trashes. After looking through a few bags in the rain, pulling out the nacho cheese filled plates, and half-drunk drinks (why don't people dump them in the sink first!?) we found them!!! Right where she left them, in the trash!!! Yay!!!

Now, this story has a point...

Revelation 2:4-5 says "Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first."

OUCH! (a good kind)

God is addressing the church in Ephesus in this letter. This verse isn't saying that they no longer had any love for Christ at all. But it is saying that the quality of their love for Him had weakened over time. Forsaken: left behind, departed from, neglected. Somewhere along the way, they had lost it.

Have YOU lost it!? Somewhere along the way, did your passion for Jesus die away? Did your flame get duller? Are you neglecting to spend precious time with Him? Are you saying... "Hey Jesus, I still love you but not quite like I used to! Don't worry though, because I will still come to church, I will still believe in You, I may even serve you. But I just don't feel the same way about you anymore."

The good thing about losing something is that (in most cases) it is in the same place you left it. Jesus says in this verse "Remember the height from which you've fallen!" What made you distance yourself from the Lord? Was it: a past hurt, a broken relationship, things were so good you didn't need Him, busy-ness of life swept in, you were hurt by a church, you got lazy? Figure out what that place was. Where did you leave those keys!? Jesus says go back and find it! Dig through that trash and remember your first love.

God hasn't moved. He's not the one who is lost. He's right there by you. He's waiting for you to realize you've been neglecting Him. Just like those keys that didn't move but had trash piled and piled on top of them... you may have placed a few (or a lot) of things above God and feel far from Him. Yet, He's right there arms open wide waiting for you to reach out for Him, waiting for you to let Him in again. Remember your first love! He says in His word "When you seek me with all your heart, you will find me." Just like we searched high and wide for her keys, maybe it's time to do everything you can to seek God. Get on your knees in repentance, start fresh and new, make a choice to make Him the center of your life and He will make the change in you. If you seek Him...

...He's given you the promise that you'll find Him.

<3 B&B (Beth Ann)