News
Current News via RSSPlease support the Evangelical Association with a tax-deductable gift
Your support of the EA further networks pastors and churches for Christ’s Kingdom advancement through our Reformed faith and congregational tradition!
Welcome to the EA
Return to your First Love
Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men. - Luke 15:18b-19
The prodigal son was at home with his father for years. He knew his father’s love since his earliest memories. How could anyone walk away from such warmth and caring?
Yet, something stirred within this younger son to try to make it on his own – do things his way. His heart was lured away by other enticements he felt would be more satisfying than the unwavering love of his father.
Am I so different? When my heart is drawn away to a mistress, or a shopping spree, the lure of a promotion or the rush of repeating delicious gossip, I have become a prodigal myself. Every day voices entice our hearts to doubt the sufficiency of our Father’s love for us. Rather than resting in the love of our Heavenly Father, we experience these prods to prove we really are worth something. Have you ever felt you would not be loved unless you did something to deserve love? The enticements of this world send us a very different message than what we find at home with God.
It is actually quite easy to recognize when I have wandered off into a “distant country.” Anger, resentment, jealousy, lust, and selfishness are all landmarks that remind me I have left the security of God’s love at home. My quests for validation or significance are often fueled by a profound distrust of the sufficiency of my First Love in Jesus Christ. “If anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). My true identity is not in what I accomplish but in what Christ has accomplished for me.
While I rest in that assurance, I do not coast. It is because of the self worth Christ gives me that I pour out my life for others as I serve the Lover of my soul – in His strength, by His Spirit.
Each day, whenever you recognize the landmarks of wandering off into some distant country, remember who you are in Christ. Return to your First Love, and find your heart’s true home in the embrace and acceptance of your Heavenly Father. Live in the assurance of God’s unfailing love.
Because He lives,
Dave Meckley, Pastor