Good Morning Friends,
“I know your deeds, your hard work and your
perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested
those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have
persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the
height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its
place.” (Revelation 2:2-5)
Hard work, perseverance through trials,
rejection of wicked men, doctrinal purity, and faithfulness. Now those seem
like great characteristics in a church -- and they are! They describe the
church at Ephesus as Jesus dictated this letter to John for them. What they
looked like on the outside was very positive.
Their hearts painted a different story about
them! For the most part, they were just going through the motions. They weren’t
clinging to Jesus out of love, but out of duty. They weren’t responding to Him
out of passion, but in a performance mode. There was something wrong with their
hearts -- they had forsaken their first love!
Can you remember what it was like when you
first came into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ? Can you remember
how meaningful the hymns and praise songs were to you? Can you recall how much
you enjoyed reading the Bible and how it came alive to you as you read? Can you
remember the tears of joy you cried when you considered how much God loved you and
how unworthy you were to have received His love?
Do those characteristics still describe your
relationship with God, or have things cooled some -- or a lot?
Jesus’ advice to a group of people whose
hearts had grown calloused to His love -- repent and do the things they did at
first. It’s good advice for all of us. Keep doing those things that fired the flame
of love in the first place. Read the Bible on your own, not for lesson
preparation, but just to marvel at what it says. Listen to praise songs and
sing along with them. Get into a small group and share with them about what God
is doing in your life. Pray, not just with a long list of requests, but just to
talk with God.
Rekindle your love!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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