“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands: . . . But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” - Revelation 2:1, 4
The risen Lord Jesus asked his servant, John the apostle, who was exiled on a small Greek island, to write some letters to a group of churches for him. And that’s how we know what Christ thought about the church! He wrote to the believers at Ephesus and reprimanded them because they had lost their zeal and love for him and for each other.
What do you think of the church? Do you consider it outdated, boring, cold? Have you ever stopped to think what Christ thinks of it? He tells us in the book of Revelation. The church is not a building; it is the people who meet inside it. It is not somewhere you go, but something you are!
Love motivates us to serve others. When you lose your love for Christ, you lose your love for unbelievers, too. You even lose your love for fellow Christians. Love always wants to please. I enjoyed my teenagers being in love. They usually wanted to help with the dishes! Love doesn’t only help with the dishes, love does the dishes! Love goes the extra mile, or two or three or four! Love stops asking, “What can God do for me?” and starts inquiring, “What can I do for God?” Love sings in the rain, and love always replies to God’s letters!
If God sent you a letter telling you he was upset with you for losing your love for him and for others, how would you respond? How would you answer his letter?
For Further Study: Revelation 2:1-7
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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