Names of Jesus Advent: First Love (November 26)

Throughout history, monks and mystics alike have often set apart the month of December as a time to reflect on His first coming in the flesh, to meditate on the present reality of His indwelling of believers, and to anticipate His final coming for His bride, the Church. 

This special time of fasting and focusing solely on the Lord stirred up a divine anticipation for His final coming and also created an insatiable hunger and expectation to see Him change our present reality. This blog series will help draw you closer to the Person of Jesus, the lover of your soul.

November 26: First Love

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2:4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Intensely loving God is the most Christian thing you can do.

Jesus, Himself says that all of Scripture hangs on this command: “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:38 NKJV.)

This love is not shallow. It is not superficial. It is not easy.

It is as demanding as the waves that beat on the shore, seemingly without end, longing to perhaps breach the land, pushing into the greater depths of the unknown landscape before it.

There is a holy call to quite literally give Him your all. Just as the ocean has no care for the effects of a crashing wave, so too should we give ourselves to Him with abandon. 

In Revelation, we find that as Jesus speaks to His Church, His Bride, He raises many points of contention with His people. They say they loved Him, yet their actions showed otherwise. Joy had turned into sorrow. Zeal into monotony. Passion into transaction. Devotion into afterthought. The supreme first love had faded into a distant memory like a photograph aged by the sun.

We must learn to linger in His presence once more, attempting to outstay our welcome, only to find that He has no desire to cut our time short. Practically speaking, the “practice of His presence” is loving Him as a crescendo without end. There are to be no stops and limits to our affection and devotion. 

Psalm 27:4 reads, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.”

In this Advent season, can we unquestionably say, “He is my first love”? Anything less than yes requires a reset. 

There must be an intentional reorganization of our life to return to our first love. Advent is a call to align yourself under the loving Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Kari Jobe, in her song “First Love,” pens these wonderful words:

“I’m returning to the secret place.

Just an altar and a flame. 

Love is found here in our sacred space.

I hear Your voice. I see Your face.

You’re still my first love. 

You’re still my only one.” 

The longing of everyone who belongs to Him is to love Him with reckless abandon.

How is He calling you to prioritize Him this season? Do not lose heart, the door of intimacy is not locked. He is calling you in. Deeper and deeper still.

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