[Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Return to your first love

By Oke Chinye 

Read: Revelation 2:4-5

Meditation verse: 

“Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Rev 2:4).

Some years back, we got two beautiful peacocks: a male and a female. Since  they were new to our home, we tied them to a shrub in a corner of the  compound to prevent them from wandering away. They were feed each day on  that same spot. After a while, we untied them so they could wander around. The  house opposite ours had some peacocks as well and we woke up one morning  to discover that our peacocks had wandered away to join those at our  neighbours. Thy remained there for months.

One morning, we were surprised to discover that the female peacock had  returned and was lying on the same spot, we had tied them when they newly  arrived. We also saw the male peacock hovering somewhere close by. The  female peacock had returned to lay her eggs. When it was time for her to birth  what was inside of her, she returned to her first home; her first love.

God uses simple and natural things to teach us important life lessons. In today’s  reading, we see Him warning the church at Ephesus to return to its first love,  else its lampstand will be removed. A lamp is a symbol of guidance. A lampstand  in biblical times was the only source of light in the Holy place. It provided light  for the priests to carry out their duties. So, without the lampstands, they would  be ineffective or unable to function properly.

If you currently lack clarity in life or are in a place of restlessness and  ineffectiveness, or you are so confused about your next move, returning to your  first love might be a good place to start to get clarity. Your first love is that place  where you connect intimately with God the most. You may need to put

everything else aside and be still in His presence so that you can be feed,  nourished, instructed, and strengthened. For, “…In returning and rest, you shall  be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15-17).

IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Dcns Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

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