To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolatians, which I also hate.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ Revelation 2:1-7
Jesus declared to the church of Ephesus that He knew their works and all the labor they have endured over the years. This church did not compromise on truth, and they were clear on what was evil.
The church in Ephesus had the maturity to discern between true and false apostles. They had all the appearance to signify they were capable, holy, and strong Christians. However, they had one major flaw that Jesus spoke about. They had left their first love!
The word, “left”, in the above scripture, (According to Strong’s Concordance in Greek) means ; neglect or disregard.
Outwardly this church was doing very well, but inwardly they had neglected their God! Isn’t that amazing!? How can this happen?
I would like to share a few reasons that could cause us to lose our first love!
Loss of Focus
If we determine the approval of God based on all the things that a church is doing right, we could be terribly wrong! While doing the right things is an important factor in God’s approval, but it is not the main component!
Jesus could see the inward condition of this church, and it wasn’t good. Is it possible that they had become so skilled in what they were doing that they didn’t find a need to depend on the Lord any longer? Were they so focused on the work of the ministry that they forgot the Creator of the Ministry? Could it be that they equated the approval of others with the approval of God?
The church had done all the right things, but they weren’t right before God!
How can we focus on God’s approval?
1. We need to have a regular time with the Lord away from people and activities. This is the place where we come before the Lord and allow Him to speak to us about those things that are important to Him.
2. We should have people in our lives who are not in our circle of friendships and/or ministry and give them permission to speak into our lives! These individuals should have the maturity to be obedient to Christ but not have their own personal agenda/need.
When David came on the scene and saw Goliath intimidating the people of God, he had no agenda except to stand up for truth and righteousness ( See 1 Samuel 17). David’s so called “skilled and mighty” brothers had been breathing the same air of defeat as all the others. They believed Goliath’s report instead of God’s truth about their situation. They communed with others in the lowland of fear and doubt and missed their high calling and purpose to be warriors for God!
3. Our focus needs to be laser sharp! Examining our focus from time to time is paramount! Is there anything that is competing for our attention?
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.