Revelation 2:4 (ESV)
“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first”
Imagine receiving a glowing commendation from the Lord Jesus Christ! Him praising your good works – your toil, your patient endurance, and your ability to detect and reject false teaching and teachers. Incredible, right? Now imagine, in equal breath, receiving a sharp rebuke from Him. This was the case for the church in Ephesus as Christ sends out a letter to them. This letter was the first of the seven that Jesus wrote to the churches in the cities of Asia minor, part of present-day Turkey. The letters take a particular format: a commendation, a condemnation, a caution, and a charge. Most churches had both a commendation and condemnation (like Ephesus), two had only a commendation, and one had only a condemnation.
The believers in Ephesus, although they had started out well, their initial affection for the Lord had waned. They still upheld high Christian standards, but this was now done merely out of duty. The Lord Jesus called out their loveless expressions and urged them to return to their first love. Thus, we can learn from this church that God cares not just for what we do but for the heart behind what we do. No wonder the greatest command is to love God and neighbour and in the words of 1 Corinthians 13:1-3:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Reflections
1. If Jesus was to write a letter to you, would He commend or condemn you? What about your local church?
2. What are some Christian things that we do merely out of duty and not out of love for Christ?
3. How has today’s devotion challenged how you think about your service to the Lord?
