Back To Basics

The Bible is different from other books. I can read any book multiple times and different things will pop up that interest me or catch my attention. The Bible doesn’t catch your attention, it grabs you by the face and cuts you (Hebrews 4:12).

Or God uses verses from it to thump you on the head with a reminder or warning.

Family Christmas at FirstNLR in December is a weekend filled with different people in our congregation getting their needs met. It’s my favorite weekend of services. We attend all four because none of them are the same.

That weekend, despite my joy, my mood was off.

I had to work that day in preparation for shutdown. All through the day, this verse kept coming to mind: “You’ve forsaken your first love.”

It’s from Revelations 2:1-7. I checked the passage for context. The thump turned into a knock-out blow.

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far 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 2:2-5

After I woke up, I made a decision. Back to basics. Back to the old routine.

In 2014 after I was saved, I devoured the Bible. I was studying multiple books and subjects at once. Even read it cover to cover.

I hadn’t done much of that lately. Studying was just lesson prep. My inner life and love for people was drying up.

Back to basics. I never finished my chronological study of the Gospels where I followed Jesus like one of the original disciples. That study was the foundation for the Learning Under Jesus series.

I was just reading now. No real committed study. I picked up where I left off and loved it. I may not get far some days, but I go deep.

I had gotten too busy. I already took steps to fix that. Shifting priorities and stepping down or away from some things. Incorporating rest. That’s hard for a person who has to always multitask and do something or he feels like a lazy failure.

My fitness wasn’t what it was. Shoddy eating and sporadic training. Back to basics. Watching the carbs and kettlebells.

Returning to my first loves and biggest stress busters: studying and training. Being with Jesus like a curious child rather than a jaded adult and the physical training tool that always worked best for me.

Back to basics.