In a neighborhood where we lived was a man, we called the Rainbow Man. He had a racy white car with rainbow running boards. The colors flowed in waves as he drove. At night, one could see the rainbow waves on the street under the car, too. He also drove with his windows down and his music loud even if the temperature was 20F/-6.6C. His car was loud. He would take off from a stop sign fast and make a lot of noise. We could tell which stop sign he was at because of this and could follow his journey through the neighborhood just from the sound. He took loving care of his car. He would wipe the dust off it, even from the underside of the hood. He worked at night as we would hear him revving the engine from the stop signs until we couldn’t hear it anymore. He returned in the early morning around 0500 in the same way. He loves his car.
It appeared that his car was his first love.
He always made time for his car, took care of his car, and made sure everyone knew it.
What is our first love?
Nevertheless, I have [something] against you, because you have forsaken your first love—Revelation 2:4.
The Lord Jesus mentioned many wonderful characteristics of the church at Ephesus. But the church had lost its first love.
That first love was for God.
Where did it go?
Something starts to creep in and slowly move us away from our first love (Hebrews 2:1 and 2 Timothy 2:3-4).
The importance of truth fades so does our desire to obey the commands of the Lord Jesus (His rules—John 14:15), reading and studying the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16-17), praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and fellowship (Hebrews 10:25).
How to avoid losing our first love?
Proverbs 2:6-15 ESV For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. 9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; 10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; 11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, 12 delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, 13 who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, 14 who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, 15 men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.