What would you think of someone who works hard for the kingdom of God, is patient, loves righteousness and hates evil, has the discernment to disprove those who falsely claim to be Christians, and is perseverant? Sounds like a pretty high quality Christian, doesn't it? Maybe these traits describe you. If someone had all these attributes, could God really hold anything against them? Well, according to Revelation 2:4, yes.
The church at Ephesus had the great track record described above. In Revelation 2:2-3, the Lord said of them, I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Sounds like they were really faithful Christians, very committed to the faith. And yet, verse 4 points out a problem they had, in spite of all the good: Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Wow, this church was really doing some great things for God, and yet they had left their love of God behind. They were going through the motions, but their heart for Him wasn't part of it. This just goes to show how it is easy to engage in righteous deeds for God without really taking that time to connect with Him. What is the cure for this kind of inconsistency? The very next verse (Revelation 2:5a) gives us that: Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works...
I remember many years ago, shortly before I turned fifteen years old, our pastor preached a message about this passage. He talked about how God was essentially saying to this church, "Hey, remember all the great times we had together? Remember when you were first starting out in the faith, and you leaned on Me all the time? Remember how I helped you have the courage to witness to someone? Remember the victories we had together? Let's do it again!" The pastor then looked out at the congregation and asked, "Is this the closest you've ever been to the Lord, or have you been closer, but lost that first love?" It was very convicting.
I had a very good friend in high school who attended a very legalistic Bible college. She became very hard and very confrontational. She constantly accused me of imaginary sins that I had no idea of, and of being part of false movements I had never even heard of. I no longer enjoyed this friendship, and was grieved to see this good friend become this way. Because a lot of her confrontations were just her parroting things her professors were saying, without being her own real, thought-out convictions, she really wasn't able to defend them, and I literally won every debate we had. I'm not even claiming to be a good debater. I was just able to overturn her accusations with basic biblical responses, or questions of my own. When she was bested in an argument (which was every time), she would say, "I am sorry. I was wrong. Forgive me." Every one of her amends was almost exactly in those words every time, in a sort of monotone. She wasn't reaching out in love to me as her long-time friend whom she had hurt. She was just going through the motion of apologizing, to clear herself of wrongdoing, with no heart behind it. And there was no change. Within a week, she would have heard of some other new "movement" to accuse me of being part of, and the whole thing would happen over and over again. Our relationship became robotic. I got sick of her "apologies" because they weren't real. I would much rather have had a real heart-to-heart with her about this stuff. That is how our service for the Lord can be if we aren't cultivating our relationship with Him.
It is so easy to go through the motions of our faith and think we're doing well. And in some respects, we are. Obedience and doing right count for something in the believer's life. They are far superior to living a worldly, ungodly life. However, God wants more than that. God wants a real relationship with us. We aren't just commanded to obey the Lord. We are commanded to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind... (Luke 10:27). Just going through the motions won't cut it. And yet it can be so easy to fall into that, especially in ministry. It can be so easy to do things for God that we don't make time to be with Him.
When I was in high school, I started being a summer missionary with the organization I now serve full-time with. Their summer program was (still is) called Christian Youth in Action (CYIA). I loved it. I was surrounded by godly peers, and we were sharing Christ with children. What could be better? Our local ministry director was a man named Mr. Bratton, who is now with the Lord. He used to tell us that, even though we were studying our Bibles a lot in order to teach the children in our Bible Clubs, we shouldn't count our study time as our daily quiet time with the Lord. He wanted to make sure we were still taking that time just for God, without it being part of our study time for ministry. He really drilled into us how much we needed that time with just God and us. He talked about how God would do things in us and through us--and there was a difference. Sometimes, it can be easy to only focus on what God is doing through us, when our real focus needs to be on that relationship with Him--inward. Mr. Bratton was so right. There is a big difference between reading the Bible to encounter the Lord, and reading it to study for something I'm going to be teaching. God wants that time with me!
Serving the Lord can be a very fast-paced life at times. We can focus on all we're doing, instead of cultivating that relationship with God. It's something any Christian can fall into. Right now, we are doing a lot of Christmas ministry. We have seen 13 children receive Christ as personal Savior this week. What a joy and victory. But that isn't the main thing God wants from us. He wants us to get before Him, away from the busyness, and hear His voice, and love Him. Today, I had a ministry-related errand, and I felt that sense of needing time with the Lord, so on the drive over, I sang my favorite hymns in the car, and thought about the Lord and what these songs were saying about Him. My spirit felt that intimacy with God, and my perspective changed. I'm not even a great singer, but I made a joyful noise, and I was worshiping Him. That's all He was concerned with.
In Colossians 3:2, we are told to Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Even doing ministry can be "earthly things" if they become the day-to-day routine. It can bog us down, and cause us to forget our first love--the "Why" behind our work. Think about your pastor, missionaries you support, your Bible study leaders--anyone you know who serves the Lord (whether full-time or volunteer). Just because they have that position doesn't make them a super-Christian! They need that time with the Lord as much as anyone.
Don't fall "out of love" with Jesus. If you need to get back to that first love, think about all Jesus has done for you, and worship Him. Make Him the Lord and center of your daily decisions. Remind yourself why you do what you do! A quote I once read said, To renew your love for God, review His love for you! Get alone with Him. Read the Bible. Seek God in prayer. Sing praises to Him. Remind yourself of all He has done for you. We will never love God as much as He loves us, and we will never love God as much as we should this side of Heaven, but He knows, and helps us. He loves us anyway. First John 4:19 says, We love Him because He first loved us.
I'll close with a story that I love. In John 21, the risen Lord appeared to His disciples while they were fishing. In verse 15-17, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Each time, Peter replied that yes, he loved Jesus. It has been said that this was a parallel to the way Peter had denied Jesus three times before the crucifixion, and that it was basically Jesus reinstating Peter. This is all true. However, an even closer look reveals even more. The first two times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, he used the Greek word agape, which is the greatest kind of unconditional love. Peter replied that He loved Jesus, but the word Peter used was phileo, which is more of a friendship love. The third time Jesus asked, he used the word phileo. Jesus knew Peter loved Him as much as he was able, and He accepted what Peter was able to give. Jesus met him where he was, and knew Peter would grow in that love. One day, Peter would lay down his life for Jesus! Our love for the Lord will never match His love for us, but He accepts what we give, and He helps it grow! It's all of Him, and not of ourselves! That's the biggest encouragement of all!
May the Lord bless your love for Him today!
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