"First Love" New Year’s Spiritual Inventory - December 27 Readings: Revelation 2:1-7

A New Year's Spiritual Inventory 

Today's Reading: Revelation 2:1-7            

“Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus: Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. 3 I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 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. 6 Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Through the Bible Readings: Zechariah 9-10, Revelation 18, Psalm 147:15–20, Proverbs 31:19–21 

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional: First Love        

What a great church Ephesus was. This was no Corinth, with its immorality and its showy spirituality and its false doctrine. And it 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 seen 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. 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. 

Give Careful Thought to Your Ways:

What is the highest priority and passion of your heart? 
Is it accurate to call Jesus your first love? 

If you have "left your first love" can you trace back to a place at which you departed? 

Will you repent and return to a full and complete passion for Christ? 

Hymn of the Day: 

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;

For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,

And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;

I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,

I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;

I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.