What strikes me is how great a church Ephesus was. This was no Corinth, with it's immorality and it's showy spirituality and it's false doctrine. And is was certainly no Pergamum or Thyatira, no Sardis, and definitely no Laodicea. If I was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Ephesus (okay, it probably wasn't called First Baptist...) I'd think we had a pretty good thing going on!
Look at what Jesus himself said about the church in verses 2 and 3.
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.
They were hardworking, laboring faithfully and with endurance in ministry. They did not tolerate evil in their midst (a problem seem later in Pergamum and Thyatira). They tested and identified false teachers and found them to be liars. This was high praise from the Savior.
And his charge against them seemed like such a small thing. He did not charge them with heresy or with immorality. His only charge against them had to do with their passion. They had left their first love. I don't particularly like the translation in the text we are using here - the HCSB - because it gives the idea of time. I think the concept here is priority. Jesus was no longer the #1 passion in their hearts.
They were working for Jesus. They were wearing themselves out in the service of the gospel. They were doctrinally sound and careful to maintain theological discernment in the church - no false apostles were going to peddle their toxic wares in that congregation. But Jesus was no longer the driving passion of their hearts.
Jesus is not willing to accept second place in the hearts of the redeemed and he is not willing to share first place. It is no small thing when a church or the people who comprise it let their passion for Christ trail off and replace it with a passion for anything else - even good things. A passion for sound doctrine and hard work in ministry is great, but it cannot replace a passion for Christ.
Jesus must always be first.
Father, I realize that too much of my life has been lived in Ephesus. Rekindle the fire of my passion for Christ every day.
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