Friday, 27th October 2023
Andrews Ampomah
TOPIC: THE PATMOS LETTERS: REMEMBER YOUR FIRST LOVE
THEME SCRIPTURE: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” – Revelation 2:4
PREPARATORY QUESTIONS:
- What influences your love for God?
For Christians, love is the natural response to God's love for us and should be our preeminent concern. Jesus teaches that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt 22:37). This means that true love for God must be wholehearted, all-encompassing (involving the totality of our being), and sincere. Our love for God is the basis on which we offer acceptable worship to Him. Suffice it to say, that we cannot love God with the totality of our being without knowing Him. What the heart feels and the soul embraces is a product of the knowledge that the mind has encountered. As our understanding of God deepens, our love for Him intensifies.
The call to love God with our whole being is essentially a call to truly know Him; as our knowledge of Him grows, so does the fervor of our love for Him.
In the context of our focus scripture, John the Apostle, from the Island of Patmos, writes what Jesus told him to the believers at Ephesus. God began by assuring them of His constant presence and commends them for many things. Their commendation included the display of authentic Christian fruits, their perseverance in the face of persecution, and their diligence. The believers at Ephesus remained vigilant against the influence of false prophets, unwaveringly taking a firm stance for God, regardless of the challenges, demonstrating their enduring commitment (Rev 2:1-3). With no threat nor near-death persecution, today's believer cower and we are so quick to abandon the truth we confess.
Unarguably this was a comunity of believers that will be an envy of our generation, they stood for the truth and lived their faith out defying the ramifications that came with that.
In commending them, Jesus also brings a charge against them as well “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first – (Rev 2:4).” How can a Church with such enviable credentials not love God? Jesus seems to say that all those things for which I commend you are good but it pales away because that which makes those hold is absent. The Church at Ephesus lost their zeal for the love for God because they stopped at every effort to know the God they took a stand for. He calls them to return to the love they had at first when they came to Christ Jesus.
That love is unrestrained because it stops at nothing in search of the knowledge of God.
Dearly beloved in Christ Jesus, Christians today are at a greater risk of getting submerged in several activities due to the neglect of the passionate pursuit of the knowledge of God, both in personal and family devotions, consistent Bible Studies, and meaningful scriptural meditations. Getting involved in activities is by no means a measure of your love for God, passionately getting to know Him is a confirmation of our love. How well you know God drives your love for Him. God is calling you back to the love you had for Him when you initially experienced the new birth in Christ Jesus. Avoid the danger of being involved in several activities like the Church at Ephesus to the neglect of your love for God.
FURTHER READING – Revelation 2:1-7
Call to Salvation: Today is your day if you have not received salvation by turning over your life to Jesus Christ. Click here to do so.
QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU MEDITATE ON THE WORD:
- Is your love for God as intense as when you first experienced the new birth?
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank You for lavishing Your love over me through the death of Your only begotten Son on the cross. Help me to respond better by loving You passionately with all my heart, soul and mind all the days of my life through Christ Jesus who strengthens me, Amen.
1-Year Bible Reading Plan
2 Chronicles 24; Daniel 5; Acts 3; Acts 4
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