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. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Revelation two four five I've driven past a certain house a hundred times or more, but something strange happened as I drove past a few days ago. Maybe it was the way the light hit the house that day. Maybe it was the weather or the time of day or something else. I don't really know what it was, but something triggered memories of being a boy. Fond childhood memories have an effect on us, perhaps more so the older we get. Those memories offer a pleasant reprieve from the harsh realities and the chaos of life that we experience every day. They are an anchor in time that brings stability and comfort and hope when things get a little rough. The memories of what we did and who we knew way back when create in us a desire to recapture the happiness of less hectic times before we became overrun by schedules and agendas and responsibilities that keep us tied down constantly on the go and eternally exhausted. To those of you who are christians, let me ask you this. Have you hit a plateau in your relationship with the Lord? Has your devotional life slipped or maybe fallen completely off the edge? Do you even find yourself attracted to things you would never have dreamed of embracing before? What happened along the way that made you lose sight of who you are and what you were called to do? What happened to the enthusiasm and the joy that you once had in serving Jesus? What made you forget that you vowed to live for him who died for you and dreamed of turning the world on its head for Christ? Many people have lost that first love. Theyve replaced it with shoddy substitutes. So how can we get back what we have lost? Here are some first admit that youve lost it. Acknowledge that youve slipped up, messed up, and come up short. Ask God to forgive you and to help you get back on track. He will, you know. Next, think back. Think about your baptism. Try to remember the feelings and thoughts you had that day. Try to recall how you felt at church camp in the summer or the first time you took the Lord's supper. Finally, commit yourself to do the things you did at first when you were a new Christian. Doing that may well rekindle the old spark and help you fan back into flame that simple, childlike awe and wonder that you had when you first came to know the Lord.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to dailythoughtspodcastmail.com dot. Have a great day and we hope youll join us tomorrow as Pastor Steve opens gods word to bring us another thought for the day.