What happens if you do not love it?

I cannot help but recall what Matt mentioned in his invitation last week. Although his lesson was about dealing with the mishaps that come our way in life, he mentioned about getting up at 4 in the morning to go duck hunting. Who does that? Only people who like to hunt. Who stands in line all night to get tickets to see a movie premiere? Who sits in a boat fishing while it rains or plays golf when the temperature is frigid? In every case, the person who is willing to endure those things loves the activity.

Those who love doing those things are sacrificing sleep, the comforts of home and a warm bed. For the most part, they do not complain about what they are doing. Most importantly, they do not consider the things they give up to be a sacrifice. So what if they are wet and tired – they get to do the thing that they love.

Compare the love of these activities to those who attend worship (Heb. 10:25). For the most part, we are protected from the weather. We travel in warm vehicles and sit in a warm building. We get to spend time with our spiritual family (I Cor. 12:12). We experience the joy of fellowship by praying, singing, giving, studying and taking the Lord’s supper.

But what happens when the love for the Lord is gone? What happens when worshipping God is something you could take or leave? It means all those things become a hardship. It is like taking someone fishing who does not like it. The weather is a bother. Getting up early is a bother. Driving to the lake is a bother. Even the event itself is unappealing. At every point of the process, they would rather be somewhere else.

The brethren at Ephesus were told that they lost their first love (Rev. 2:4). Jesus came right out and said that they had fallen because of this (verse 5). This was said even though they were still doing right things (verse 2-3).  Let this be a warning lest we also fall (I Cor. 10:12).

                                                                                              Chuck