1. I remember your first love (1-13)

Israel was God's holy bride. She loved God and followed him through the desert; he fed, cared for and protected her. Then Israel exchanged the glory of God for worthless idols. People who follow worthless things become worthless. Israel committed two sins: She forsook God, the spring of living water, and she dug her own cisterns--cisterns which held no water. In the time of distress she did not seek help from God, but looked to foreign nations.

2. Freed slaves, again enslaved (14-37)

Instead of seeking help from God, Israel sought help from the superpowers of their time, Egypt and Assyria. They did not like the moral demands of the Holy God, so they followed the permissive religions of their neighbors and lived by the dictates of sinful human nature. They had no sense of sin. As a result, they became candidates for God's judgment.

Application: Lord, renew my love for you that I may not follow worthless things. Help me to drink deeply from the spring of living water every day.
One Word: God himself is the spring of living water