1. Go back to your first love. In John’s letter to Ephesus in Revelation 2:4,5, Jesus told them “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first…” How did you become passionate about God in the first place? This is probably how you will become passionate again. Fall in love with Jesus all over again!
2. Get hungry! One thing I have learned in the dieting world is that we have a tendency to crave the things that we are used to eating. For example, if we consume a lot of sugar and sweets, we will hanker for more sweets. If we habitually munch on salty snacks, we will crave salt. When we eat fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables, we will crave fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables. If we do not have an appetite for things that are good for us, that is a sure sign that we have been eating too much junk.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. How are we filling our hearts and minds? When we regularly feast on God’s Word, and we communicate intimately with the Lord every day, we will hunger passionately for Him. However, worldly junk will surely spoil our spiritual appetites the same way junk food spoils or physical appetites.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” We must be hungry before we will be filled. We also must be on guard about letting the junk in, because it will surely crowd out our healthy appetite. Proverbs 4:23 reminds us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
3. Smash some idols. Get rid of anything and everything that has taken God’s place in your heart, and remove anything that is a distraction to you. Whether it is too much TV, Facebook, shopping, a bad relationship, substance abuse – you name your vice! I am reminded that when Nehemiah led the people of Israel to rebuild the wall, they had to remove heaps of rubble before they could complete the task. The garbage had to be eliminated before the wall could be erected.
Similarly with us, we must ask the Holy Spirit to reveal and remove extraneous things that are in the way. Hebrews 12:1 states it perfectly, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
4. Don’t settle! Instead, search for God with all that is in you! Come on; it’s time to get your determination back! Take a long hard look at your heart and take inventory. Have you lost your first love? Have you noticed a root of complacency or boredom? Are you all in, or is there something missing? It is time to do something about it. Don’t try to justify it. Don’t give in to it.
Here is what you do: “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart,” says the Lord in Jeremiah 29:13. With all of your heart also includes seeking him first above all other things, as in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Seek Him first and with all that is in you, and you have His promise that you will find Him.
