Last 5 Days
Abandon the love you had at first
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
The above is the first letter our Lord Jesus wanted John to write. It could be referring to the early period of Churches founded by the Apostles. The good thing about these Churches is that they are cautious with the authenticity of the doctrine. The weakness is that they have abandoned their first love. The warning is that God will remove their lampstand if they do not repent. What does that mean? The lampstand refers to the Church. Removing the lampstand means that they remove the Church. In other words, God does not want a righteous Church without love.
Strangely, according to the passage, these Churches have experienced God’s love and have loved God. Yet, they would abandon the love but remain faithful to its righteousness. It does not sound logical but yet it is reality. We can be very stubborn towards the theology of Christianity yet miss the essence, which is love. We can be so concerned with topics like "speaking in tongues" and "Trinity". Yet, we have no concern with the lost souls.
Perhaps it is time for us to examine our love for God once again. Let us come to the Lord and ask him to teach us to love Him and love those He loves.
