Friday, February 27, 2009

Our First Love

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:

Jesus, who walks in the midst of the churches, explains to the Church at Ephesus that He knows their works, how hard they labor, how they have been patient and how much they hate evil. He continues, “you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.” All great praises from the Savior.

But the King also has this to say, a message for all of us in the “Loveless Church.” “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” How devastating it is to hear Jesus use these words, “you have left your first love.” He is telling the Ephesians and all of us “who have an ear” that we must be careful not to forget why our churches exist and who it is we are there to worship. Jesus says to everyone, “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.”

Our faith must not be in the youth programs, the praise band or the size of the sanctuary; it is about loving Jesus and remembering how he captured our hearts when we realized that he loved us so much that he willingly gave his life that we may be sinless in the eyes of God. We cannot lose site of the fact that He gave of himself as an example that we are to give of ourselves completely to His service and the service of others.

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