Remember when you were so in love with Jesus that nothing else mattered? When your heart burned with love and devotion for your savior? When you first became a Christ follower and your heart was completely His?
Somewhere along the way of our lives with Him have begun to slightly turn from our first love to other things.
"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.…Joel 2:12-13
The word "return" in this verse in Hebrew is shub.
shub means-to turn back, return
In the Jewish faith the time period of Elul usually occurs in late August–September. Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
“Elul,” in Hebrew when the letters are read as an acronym, reminds us of the verse, "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" Or in my translation, God has my heart!
Often when speaking of the time period of Elul it is said that we enter achor el achor, meaning “back to back,” and by the end of Elul we are panim el panim, “face to face.”
Sometimes our hearts turn toward other things and we don't realize that we have turned away from God. If we stay turned for too long we can feel distant and disconnected from Him. Sometimes we even convince ourselves that God has moved from us.
If I am honest, I have been in this turned away position. I am not mad at God, I didn't mean to become back to back. Somehow as I was focused on work, taking care of my mom, doing ministry and living I began to slowly turn away from my first love. This post is so for me! Today is the beginning of my time of Elul. I am choosing to seek God and turn towards Him.
Where is your heart today? Is it turned away from God? (back to back)
James tells us that God will be close to us if we come to Him.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. James 4:8
Are you willing to turn around, to become face to face with God again? (panim el panim)
If you want that closeness and an intimacy with God again you must be willing to turn around and look at Him. When you look into His eyes you will feel both the embrace of your savior and the reassurance of His love for you.
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Exodus 33:10
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. Psalm 27:8
May you be blessed as you seek His face once again.
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Thank you for visiting, Praying that you are blessed today. Jann