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  LOVE LEFT BEHIND
  by Daniel Beachy
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Summary: The sermon emphasizes the importance of recognizing and
returning to our first love for God amidst life's distractions.

Topics: "First Love", "Spiritual Drift"
Scripture References: Matthew 6:24

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DESCRIPTION
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Daniel Beachy preaches about the danger of leaving our first love, using
the analogy of a man who chooses to leave the burden of his true love
for the allure of material wealth. He emphasizes that losing our first
love is not a matter of it being lost, but rather forsaken for something
else we prioritize. Just like the church at Ephesus, we can have good
works and knowledge, yet still drift away from our initial love for God
by choosing to prioritize other things.

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CONTENT
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The church at Ephesus had many good works, they had much knowledge, but
they had left the first love. How do we leave our first love? It seems
we too easily get the idea we've lost our first love and don't know how
to find it. The way it really happens is we choose what will be our
first love. It's not lost; but left. Not forgotten, but forsaken.

It's like a man walking alone carrying a burden for one he loves with
all his heart. As he journeys towards his destination, he sees another
bundle containing gold, silver, and other valuables. "Well (he may say),
I can't carry both bundles very far, but this looks like a good thing,
this will allow me to live more comfortably. I will try it once." And so
he goes on for a while until he finds out that these two packages can't
be carried together; one will have to go.

"Why, I've hardly picked up this new bundle and I'm getting tired
already." After some deliberation he takes the first bundle off his
back, finds a good place to put it by the side of the road, and proceeds
down the road with the second. "I'll come back and get that later," he
decides, "once I've found a secure place to store these other things."
Thus he leaves his first love, for the second one.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/daniel-beachy/love-left-behind/
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