Day 33 of 40 days of devotion
Written by Rod Standing
‘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.’
Rev. 2: 4-5.
As the years pass, and opportunities to reminisce and to dream dreams begin to increase, a gentle stroll down memory lane may be a pleasurable and soothing indulgence. But the blessing can be mixed. When linked into prayer, God may interrupt with a sharp dig in the ribs.
So it was that our recent teaching on devotion, addressed in prayer, prompted me to hear the call in these verses to remember and to repent.
Pat and I only really came to know the Lord in true relationship through Alpha, 19 years ago. It was all very exciting. I’ve often said that our first Sunday mornings left me in a state of shock!
Being recently retired, I was able to make space for a morning ‘quiet time’ which, it was suggested to me, should begin with worship. There was a passion and intimacy with Him about those first steps of worship which I now recall but now seem quite rare. What’s happened?
Looking back, I think I’ve grown in knowledge and have developed an appetite for more – I’ve been feeding the mind but at the expense of the Spirit. Good, but wrong priority, wrong focus. He may approve of me when I’m clever but He loves me when I worship Him.
So, with Pat’s help, I’m doing something about it.
‘Come near to God and he will come near to you.’ James 4:8.
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