Robindale Boys & Girls Club was the scheduled game location. No way, I thought. This is where I grew up playing basketball—and now I’m coaching my sons here.

When we walked into the gym, the royal-blue walls were still there. The carpet courts were gone, but the place felt familiar. Then I saw someone I used to play with growing up—now coaching his son too. Nostalgia hit me fast. I was back where it all started.

Returning to a place that shaped you can wake something up in you. It reminds you what mattered—and what formed you. In Scripture, God’s people did this on purpose. Samuel, Joshua, and Jacob each took time to mark a moment so they—and the generations after them—wouldn’t forget what God had done. The Passover was set apart each year to remember how God delivered Israel from Pharaoh’s oppression. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper so His followers would remember His sacrifice, His love, and the new covenant purchased by His blood. Every time we take the Lord’s Supper, we return to where it all started—where renewal and refreshment begin again.

That’s what Jesus calls the church in Ephesus to do in Revelation 2. He praises their endurance and commitment to truth—but He points out what’s missing:
“You have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4)

They were doing many right things, but their hearts had drifted. So Jesus gives a path back: remember, repent, and return.
“Remember… repent… and do the works you did at first.” (Revelation 2:5)

Jesus isn’t after busy hands while our hearts grow cold. He wants relationship. He wants our love—not just our effort. It’s why He affirmed Mary when she sat at His feet, instead of Martha who was distracted with much serving. (Luke 10:42)

Maybe today you’re tired from striving—trying to earn what you already have in Christ. You don’t obey to be loved; you obey because you are loved.

Do you remember when you first came to know Jesus? When worship felt personal, Scripture felt alive, prayer felt real, and sin felt heavy? Jesus’ invitation is still the same:come back.

Is there anything you need to repent of today—anything blocking you from returning to your first love? Turn from it. Go back to where it started—where Jesus saved you and set you free. For His glory and your joy.

Carve out time today with no phone: read Revelation 2:4–5 slowly, name one thing that’s been cooling your love, repent, and ask Jesus to restore your affection for Him.