Remember Your First Love

The word of the LORD came to me: "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:
" 'I remember the devotion of your youth,
how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the desert,
through a land not sown.

Faithfulness is more than tenacity or persistence. It is the strong and burning affection that comes from being in love. The zeal of young love is often tempered by the maturity of years of love. Fires cannot burn that hot forever, it seems, and yet the zeal of a young love hopefully is changed into the strength of a deep and enduring love. The hope of young love is gradually replaced by the trust of proven faithfulness and lovingkindness.

God is seeking the faithful love of a groom who pursues his bride even through the desert of life, who remains devoted to her and who cares only for her to the exclusion of all others. He is looking for the heart that still recalls the white hot flames of that first love even when the fire has been burning for many years or even decades. Do you remember what it was like when you found the cross on that hill and witnessed the sacrifice of God, kneeling at its base and praising the Savior who defeated death so that we might live? Do you remember the prayer of unconditional surrender of self and confident acceptance of Jesus Christ, and the moment in which he granted your prayer? Do you remember the feelings of change, of hope, of amazement, of discovery, of confidence in an ordained future that followed that moment?

That’s the feeling that God wants us to sustain throughout our life. The blush of first love. The thrill of passion. The excitement of becoming.

Jeremiah knew what God was seeking. He was to tell the people of Jerusalem that he didn’t forget. And, he was to ask them that they not forget.

Have you forgotten?