Matthew 9:15-17
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
Revelation 2:4
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.
Joy and happiness are more important than riches
Even if you’ve received something valuable, if you’re not joyful and grateful, and if you don’t like it or love it, you cannot enjoy it. Heaven is within your heart. Let’s say you live in a really nice house. If you’re not joyful and don’t like it, you gain no satisfaction or pleasure from it, and you are no better off than someone who is happy even though they live in an ordinary house. Even if you are rich, if you cannot feel joy and happiness, you are no better off than someone who is not rich but is still joyful and happy. Likewise, even if you meet and live with the person you desired the most, if living with them doesn’t feel like Heaven, then in reality, it’s not as good as meeting an ordinary person and living joyfully.
Spiritual pleasure is more important than bodily pleasure
Joy and satisfaction that pertain to the physical body end having been enjoyed only by the body. The body must live within the Lord and enjoy spiritual pleasure; only then will both the body and spirit feel joyful and satisfied. As the body enjoys many things on the earth, the spirit transforms into a spirit of Heaven. Although the body dies, the spirit will go to the spiritual world and live there with satisfaction and joy forever.
Don’t lose the value of what gave you joy in the past
The environment and people around you, your house, and your possessions bring you joy when you first gain them because you love them so much. But as time goes by, you become less satisfied and that joy and love become ordinary. In the Bible, God said that He would move the lampstand of those who lose their first love. This happens because you, yourself, lose the value of the things and people you love, so your thoughts change. Even possessions make people happy at first, as if they’ve gained precious treasure, but as time goes by, they gradually consider such things to be ordinary and end up selling them at an ordinary price.
The same is true with your life of faith. People treat God, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Son with joy and love at first. However, as time passes, they lose the value of their relationship with God and their love cools, so they start treating the Trinity in an ordinary way. The reason people grow distant from God, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Son, is firstly because their love cools. Second, they lose the value, and third, they lose the joy they had gained from the Lord. There are many reasons why people forget their first love. However, God, the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Son are never-changing, pouring out passionate love just as in the past.
Psychologically speaking, when people gain their first love or start dating someone, their hearts are set on fire, and they go crazy with happiness. However, they gradually lose that heart. In the same way, when people listen to God’s Word, they are moved and they determine themselves to live in the way God wants. But as time goes by, they lose the value of the Word and their determination weakens. This happens because their hearts and thoughts cool, and they do not take action. You need to come to your senses; only then will you realize the value clearly.
Biblical examples of realizing the value
When Saul met Prophet Samuel for the first time, he treated Samuel with good manners and humility. But once he became king, his heart and deeds changed and he treated Samuel poorly. Because King Saul lost the value of Samuel—a man of God—he was rebuked by the prophet and was forsaken by God. Lot’s wife had also initially avoided judgment by fleeing Sodom, but having failed to realize the value of the angel’s words, she looked back and was judged. In Matthew chapter 25, of the ten virgins who waited passionately for the bridegroom at first, five of them lost the value and fell asleep, so they could not receive the bridegroom.
On the other hand, when God appointed David as king, David was thankful and joyful throughout his life. Therefore, God entrusted the region and the Israelites to him, and He allowed David to rule joyfully for 40 years. At Jesus’ time, too, Judas Iscariot lost his first love, so the Lord was taken away from him. However, the other disciples who maintained their first love until the end continue to live with the Lord Jesus as his disciples even in the spiritual world.
Receive blessings and joy by taking action
God, the Holy Spirit, and the Lord will continue to bless you and work with you as time goes by, so you must continuously work even harder. God’s blessings are endless; He gives more every day. You need to know the value of what God has given you, realize, and use it while loving Him, being joyful and grateful, and sharing that joy with the One who gave it to you. Only then will you not lose the blessings you’ve received. The talents God has given you also need to be used joyfully; only then can you raise the level, experience more love, and use your skills to give glory to God.
