LEARNING DAILY

 

Revelation2:4 - 5, “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.”  Jesus

 

Have you ever just gotten to the point with your job, or a relationship, with your walk with the Lord, with anything that you just go through the motions, just take whatever it is for granted?  You may have been doing something for so long that it becomes routine, lacks the excitement it first had.  Perhaps, the testing or having to be sharp has worn on you to the point that you have become lax in the way you do things.

 

I used to really enjoy going into a classroom to watch a teacher teach.  Some of the long-time teachers could care less if I was there or not; others (even the more seasoned veterans) got really nervous.  I enjoyed observers coming into my room to watch me teach; it made me sharp and do my best each day.  (I learned to be ready every day from a principal who came to observe my teaching when I was totally unprepared for the evaluation.)

 

To the church at Ephesus, Jesus tells John that He “knows their works, their labors, their patience, and that they cannot bear those who are evil; that they test those who say they are apostles but are not.”  He knows they “have persevered and have patience, have labored for His name’s sake and not grown weary.”  But He tells them that knowing correct doctrine, obeying some of the commands, and worshipping in the church is not enough.  The church must have a heartfelt love for Him and his Word.  His followers must have a single-hearted devotion to Him, purity of life and a love of the truth.  Notice that the church of Ephesus was a hard-working group of believers that had the courage to stand against false teachers and have persevered in their faith.

 

The problem with the people in this church was they no longer did the work with the passion they did when they first believed; it was no longer motivated by love.  The Lord told John to write to them that they must remember what they did when motivated by love, to repent and be motivated again by their love for Him.  If they did not, He would “come quickly and remove their lampstand from its place.”  The lampstand symbolizes Christ as the personification and expression of the Triune God.  John 15:5, says this really well, “I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”  The Lord is telling this church it must repent or risk His light being removed from them. 

 

Without Him our work becomes fruitless.  Without Him this blog is just words.  Without Him your work as Christian school teachers become just teaching.  Without Him hearts are not changed.  Without Him ….  Do you get the message of this church?  For those who repent of doing to be doing and not out of their love for the Lord, He “promises they will eat from the tree of life in paradise!”   

 

I believe it is easy to fall into being like the church of Ephesus.  It can be easy to focus on following doctrine and working hard to study the Bible without the love of Jesus in our heart.  Be careful of thinking you have to take time to study, have to meditate on the Word, have to pray because you know it is good to do it.  That is the church of Ephesus.  Do these things with a grateful heart because the Lord Jesus Christ has saved you from an eternity in hell.  It is not an obligation to walk with Him it is an honor and a privilege to do so.  Repent and get back to doing the things you did when you first gave your life to Him.  We love Him because He first loved us!

 

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