One of the greatest and most useful tools when working with a computer is to reboot. I don’t know how many times I’ve had issues with the software. Things just wouldn’t work right. Nothing seemed to go the way it was supposed to. Eventually, I would get to the point where I would turn it off and turn it back on again. It was amazing how many problems disappeared when you simply went back to the beginning.
Another way of talking about that is renewing the default settings. That takes you back to where you were before you started monkeying with it and personalizing things. It gets rid of the conflicts that come up when we want to be in charge.
I noticed this in Revelation 2 when it was talking about the church in Ephesus. The church had a lot of good things going for it. In spite of that, Jesus looked at them and said, “We got a problem.” What was the big problem? Didn’t they have good programs? Weren’t they maintaining their standards? Hadn’t they just won the Sunday school attendance contest? Yes, He had one thing against them…
They had left their first love.
Jesus doesn’t go into explaining what He means by that, but we can go back and figure that out simply by visiting the preschool class in your Sunday School. In between singing about Father Abraham and climbing Sunshine Mountain or whatever new contemporary nonsense they sing, you hear “Jesus loves me this I know….” You might even hear the chorus, “Oh how I love Jesus.:”
So what is the most obvious first love that we tend to get away from? Loving Jesus. Those simple moments of just enjoying being in His presence. That should be a large part of our worship. We should be able to sit quietly and bask in the presence of the One who died on the cross for us.
You know that 15 minutes before the first person steps into the pulpit? In many churches, the pianist goes to work. Sometimes in our church, the pianist uses this as an opportunity to play some of the great music that never gets sung. One church I was in, the pianist would spend a couple hours picking, selecting, practicing, working at setting the mood of worship. Might I suggest you take advantage of that time and allow Jesus to get close to you, to sit down on the seat next to you, maybe to put His arm around you. He might even whisper something in your ear. The offertory is another good time to do this.
Most love relationships deteriorate from being ignored. Say hello to your first love.
homo unius libri
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Opus 2026-014: Uncharted Revelation: Reboot
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Thank you! Have you ever thought about compiling your posts into a book?
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of fantasies but reality usually steps in and rains on my parade. Our pastor was sharing what he considered a profound passage from a book his dad had written. In his comments he mentioned that he keeps multiple copies in his car and has boxes of them at home. There are a lot of good writers in the world. If you go to a thrift store you can see the products of their efforts.
DeleteIf the head of a publishing house calls me and offers a book deal I would probably jump at it but until that happens, thanks for the good word.
Grace and peace,
Pumice