Have you lost that “in love” feeling?

 

READ: Revelation 2:1-6

 

Revelation 2:4

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. (NIV)

 

• To the church in Ephesus (V. 2) – this is the Church that Paul started 43 years prior
• Jesus commended the church in vs. 2
• They worked hard and they persevered
• They did not tolerate wicked men or false teaching
• They had endured hardship
• But they had forsaken their first love (forsaken = abandoned, deserted)
• Vs. 5 – “Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first.”
• They were busy doing things but they had forgotten their devotion to Him.

APPLICATION:

• Doing for the Lord is important
• Standing firm against false teaching is a must
• But if we do not seek Him and lay at His feet it will not mean anything
• Don’t be a “Martha” (see Luke 10:38-42)
• He desires our heart and our devotion

Remember being a Newlywed? Or have you seen a Newlywed couple? That first year of marriage is wonderful. You can’t get enough of one another! You can’t spend enough time with the other person, and nothing they do seems to bother you. But, over time little things start to creep into your marriage. Kids, life, work, and even ministry. And before you know it, that “In Love” feeling seems to have disappeared. Where did it all go? And you begin to miss it. You begin to wonder did I make the right choice; did we make a mistake? Just know that God didn’t design it this way, and with some work and with the work of the Holy Spirit in your life you can have that spark back in your marriage. I know, because after almost 35 years we have it in ours. It hasn’t always been there, and sometimes life gets in the way, but we still love to hold hands and to gross out our children in the middle of the kitchen (kissing – just to clarify)!

 

That is exactly what John is writing about here in the beginning chapters of Revelation. Jesus instructed John to send the church in Ephesus a message. Jesus Himself commended them for their hard work and for their devotion to correct doctrine. Warren Wiersbe describes the church in Ephesus this way: It was also a sacrificing church, for the word labor means “toil to the point of exhaustion.” The Ephesian Christians paid a price to serve the Lord. They were a steadfast assembly, for the word patience carries the meaning of “endurance under trial.” They kept going when the going was tough.[i] This fledgling church had toiled and continued its faithful service to God for more than 40 years. But as we will see that wasn’t enough. Not even close.

 

This busy, sacrificing church really suffered from “heart trouble” – they had abandoned their first love! They were doing and saying all of the right things but they were not motivated out of love for Christ. One author explained it this way, “Most of the Ephesian Christians were now second-generation believers, and though they had retained purity of doctrine and life and had maintained a high level of service, they were lacking in deep devotion to Christ.”[ii] They had forgotten their first love.

 

What is “first love”? Wiersbe says that “It is the devotion to Christ that so often characterizes the new believer: fervent, personal, uninhibited, excited, and openly displayed. It is the “honeymoon love” of the husband and wife (Jer. 2:1–2). While it is true that mature married love deepens and grows richer, it is also true that it should never lose the excitement and wonder of those “honeymoon days.” When a husband and wife begin to take each other for granted, and life becomes routine, then the marriage is in danger.”[iii] Is it any wonder that scripture likens our relationship with Christ to that of a marriage!

 

How the church today needs to heed this same warning, that devotion to doctrine and service are not enough. Jesus wants our hearts as well as our hands and our heads. And the only way that I know to restore that “first love” for Christ is to spend time with Him. To read His Word, and to spend time talking with Him. For the last two years I have used the Life Journal to help me to restore my “first love”. If you aren’t already doing it, I challenge you to do the same.

 

Pray a prayer of repentance. Ask God to forgive you for losing your “first love”. Then ask Him to restore that in your life. Ask Him to give you the desire and the determination to spend time with Him.

 

Each week’s Monday Motivation is taken from the reading schedule found in the Life Journal. If you are ready for the next step in your discipleship, then order yours today or see me for a copy.

www.lifejournal.cc

 

If you would like help in growing in your faith, or if you would like to know how to have faith in Him, then please contact us at (928)636-2949 or email me at pastorguy@cvgrace.com

 

 

 

[i] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 571). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[ii] Walvoord, J. F. (1985). Revelation. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 933–934). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

[iii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 572). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.