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Last Monday, I went to a local towing company to collect my personal belongs from my wrecked car.  After negotiated with the woman in the front desk, I wasn’t happy about their “profit from my misfortune (趁火打劫)” practice on the towing expense of my car. Especially when I looked at the tragic sight of my car – engine hood was crooked up, radiator was crushed to meet the engine block, headlights were gone, front bumper and battery were punched – I felt heavy in my heart.

I still remember when my old station wagon threw in the towel under a cold winter, I knew it is time for me to look for a “new” car. Weeks later, we purchased our family’s very first brand new car. Since then, this new car has served my family well. For years, she just like an old solider went through numerous battles and endured many wounds. In the end, however, she still has to succumb to her unavoidable fate – going to the junk yard.

Most of us may consider our first love, which could be a boyfriend or a girlfriend, a new car or a new house, etc., memorable. Because, it was the first time that our raw, pure and deep affection onto our first love. Seldom would we forget our affection even after years, I think.

In our spiritual journey, there is a similar thing too. We have our “first love” who is our Lord Jesus. His unfathomable love attracts us deeply when we first met Him. That love draws us close to Him and motivates us to serve Him afterwards. However, as time goes on, our love to Him may fade gradually; especially under the heavy influence of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, as apostle John indicated (1 John 2:16). This brings my mind to the book of Revelation. In there we learned that our Lord warned the Church in Ephesus that they have forsaken their first love (Revelation 2:4). Therefore, the Lord wanted them to remember from where they have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else He will come to them quickly and remove their lampstand from its place—unless they repent.

By experience, we know how limited is our love to others, not even mention our love to the Lord. The warning posted by the book of Revelation reminds us that we could forsake our first love if we are not pay attention to it. We have to keep pace with our Lord consistently and ask our Lord to protect us from the lust of this world.

My dear brothers and sisters, “Walk by Faith” instead of “Walk by Sight” is the only way that we can keep pace with our Lord and have our deep affection to Him continuously. We saw the consequence of Israelites’ wandering in the wilderness for 40 years without entering the land of rest (Canaan) because of their “Walk by Sight” instead of walking by faith in the LORD. Let’s once again be reminded by the Holy Spirit:

“We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.「我們若將起初確實的信心，堅持到底，就在基督裡有分了」(Hebrews 3:14)”