“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” (Revelation 2:4).

I have been part of many discussions over this verse. As far as I recall, we have always taken it to mean “I am disappointed in you because you’ve lost that loving feeling.” Then we discussed how we can tell if we’ve lost that loving feeling and what to do about it if we have.

What if it really means “I am disappointed in you because you’ve found somebody new?”  We don’t really want to consider that, do we? What if our love and devotion to Mammon has become more important to us than our love for our Saviour?

It happens so subtly. Mammon comes to us with an offer of immediate gratification and we don’t consider what that temporary benefit might do to our long-term relationship with our Lord. The first time we do it, it doesn’t seem like much has changed, so we go on, getting deeper and deeper into this adulterous relationship with Mammon.

Soon our attention is wholly taken up with the pursuit of the earthly benefits of wealth, pleasure, honour and pride that Mammon promises, and we forget the ultimate reason why we first entered into a relationship with Jesus.

The apostle Paul expressed his concern for the Corinthian Christians this way: “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-3)

Who has control of your heart, Jesus or Mammon?