I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. You also possess endurance and have tolerated many things because of My name and have not grown weary.
But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.
Remember then how far you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. Otherwise I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place-unless you repent.
Revelation 2: 2-5 HCSB
Do you remember your first love? Our first love is the love that is untainted by the hurt and rejection that we can feel from relationships. We enter into our first love trusting and expecting great things. Often times we enter into our relationships that way, but we lose our focus. In the beginning of a relationship we put our best foot forward. We are eager to impress and please the other person. Once we have their full attention, we often feel that we can slack off and slouch a bit more. We tend to let our bodies go by eating more and working out less. We gain that “happy” weight, although I have never been happy to gain weight. We are not as attentive as we used to be. You know what I mean, we have all been there. We have even named this newness the “honeymoon phase”.
These words are in the letter written to the church at Ephesus. Jesus gave these words to John. There were seven churches addressed in the book of Revelation. Some were doing a good job and some not so good. These letters are very applicable to our local churches today.
My husband and I recently had the honor and pleasure to be a part of a group that formed a new church. We have been in our new church for almost a year now. This scripture passage serves as a warning to churches and Christians in general. Just as the excitement of a new relationship makes us eager to please, we often start new churches that way. We are enjoying the excitement of eagerly working for God. We are trying to please Him. But somehow things go awry. This is very scary ground here. When things begin to go awry, the devil can come in and take over. Many churches have done good works but have allowed one person to control the church. If that one person has bitterness and resentment in their heart then it can cause the whole church to suffer.
In our area, we are seeing many churches struggling to make ends meet because membership has dropped. People go to church to be uplifted and worship God. Often times when they go into a church where members are backbiting and fighting for control, they turn away from that church. Only God should be in control of our churches. Church leaders should be in God’s will when leading the church.
The interesting thing about this scripture passage is that God is pleased with the works the church is doing. They have a lot of good works going on there. But God clearly says that He will not forgive them for abandoning or walking away from their first love. He will not forgive the fact that their hearts have changed and they have developed a lack of eagerness and concern for the works that they are doing. You see, when we are saved we are eager to please God. We are establishing a new relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God never changes in our relationship. He is steady and true. However, we lose heart.
We often start a new job like that. We are so excited about the job and then we get in there and realize how hard the work is and its not so much fun anymore. But we often stay in these jobs, why? Because we are being paid, right? We may not love the job, but we may love the pay that comes with it. How many times have you encountered someone working in retail that obviously doesn’t love their job? You ask a question and they look at you like you just interrupted the best day dream ever. So you can not love your job and still get a paycheck. However, in this scripture passage, God is warning them that He is looking at what is in their heart while they perform their works. God is telling them that their works are useless because of what is in their hearts.
God looks at what is in our heart. He wants us to love Him with our whole heart (Luke 10:27). He doesn’t want our leftovers. He doesn’t want a couple minutes at the end of our day when we are exhausted and ready to fall into bed. He wants our first and our best.
In verse 5 He clearly tells them to remember where they have fallen. He is calling them to recognize where they lost that eagerness to please. He tells them that if they do not repent that He will remove their lampstand. By this He means that He will remove the usefulness of that local church. Ouch!! Sound familiar?
Think about it, if the church is useless, so is all their hard work. Now no one wants to labor in vain, right? 1 Corinthians 15:58 tells us that we should remain steadfast, immoveable and always abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that when we labor in the Lord it is not in vain.
God knows what’s in our hearts, we hide nothing from him. So my question for you today, is are you laboring in vain? Are you giving God your all? Are you working with an eagerness or are you saying, “oh no, I have to do that again?” This attitude is evident to those who visit your church. They will see that everyone is happily and eagerly working together for the Lord. Or they will see that people are begrudgingly doing just enough to get by.
If you have fallen off or slacked off in your eagerness to please God and to work for your church, remember where you have fallen off. Go back, repent, and start fresh. The great thing about God is that He allows do-overs. And I don’t know about you, but I am so glad He does. I need them often!
Have a great day!