20081130

The church of Ephesus was a growing church in a society steeped in idolatrous worship of Artemis (Acts 19). Weekly, more people turned to believe in Jesus Christ. It was a church with leaders like the apostle Paul, Apollos and Timothy and firm in their stand against doctrinal deviations, false teachings and rejecting evil. The believers were hard working and actively engaged in church events. All seemed well in the church by all counts. But it was not so. The church “had left her first love”.

The love for Christ was no longer fervent. Believers participate in their church duties faithfully but driven only by a sense of duty, of work to be done. Christ the Lord tells the church, “Repent and do the deeds you did at first.” What was it they did “at first”? It is not difficult for us to understand what it means to love God with all our being. We are ready to surrender every area of our life over to Him – our wrong actions, bad habits and wrong relationships. We are eager to be found pleasing to God, to read His Word and walk with Him daily. The Spirit-filled life is infectious. People see the glow in us and comment: “you’re different from the others”. They want to know us more and also to know the Jesus Christ in us. Err…has all that simply fizzled out?

To confirm, check (√) the following boxes:

 It’s been a long time since Sunday morning worship service is a joy for me.
 My busy-ness in church serves as a good break from my job.
 If only I can take a break from my church routine.
 I’m crying inside and I long for someone in church I can talk to about my woes.
 It’s hard to believe some people in church are so hard to work with!

The remedy is simple. Repent and Return to the deeds you did at first (Rev. 2:5). What does this mean? The church at Ephesus was commended for preserving God’s Word from error. Now, they were to again demonstrate that the Word is also alive in their lives. We are reminded: it is not how much we go through the Bible but how much the Bible goes through us in a living relationship with the love of our life – Jesus. May we continue as a church to be fervent in our first love for the Lord!