Walking Away From Jesus

Scripture

1“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lamp stands: 2“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.                                                      Revelation 2:1-4

Observation

This picture of Jesus walking in to each of His churches is powerful and a poignant reminder that each church matters to Him and each gathering has a unique authority and calling in the cities they have been planted in. The city of Ephesus was known as The Light of Asia. Jesus is addressing the light of His church in this letter that was in danger of going out. Why? Not because they weren’t working hard. They persevered in purity and preserved the integrity of the Gospel and patiently worked to show God in a godless city. So what’s the problem?   “Nevertheless” means that all the good in the Ephesian church did not cancel out the bad Jesus is about to describe. They had walked away from their first love. A person can lose their keys accidentally, but this was a deliberate choice to stop pursuing intimacy with Jesus. It didn’t happen over night, but over time they chose to serve God but stopped loving Him. This church looked great on the outside, but was about to lose its flame, its reason for existing. A church can’t show the love of Jesus if we aren’t loving Jesus.  Spurgeon put it this way, “A church has no reason for being a church when she has no love within her heart, or when that love grows cold. Lose love, lose all.”

Application

What’s first determines what’s next. A love that isn’t first won’t last. Heart work must precede the hard work or our hearts will grow hard in the working. It’s precisely because Jesus loves me that He doesn’t just tell me what I want to hear, but what I need to hear. As I entered in to my three week break in July I didn’t feel burnt out. I love what I get to do for a living. I’m pretty sure I have the best job in the world. I get to journey alongside those who know Jesus and I get invite people into a journey with Jesus.  Yet, as I sat down to journal I felt a correction similar to this one for Ephesus. Somewhere along the way Jesus had started to feel more like my employer than my Savior. The Bible had started to feel more like an instruction manual for content creation instead of a love letter from Jesus. I remember distinctly sitting in a chair looking out over The Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon.  There was another empty chair in front of me and I felt a gentle “talk to Me.” Normally I will just journal out my prayers, but I just started talking out loud to Jesus as if He was sitting in the empty chair in front of me. This shifted something in my brain. I know Jesus lives in me, but I must choose to live in Him over and over again for apart from abiding in Him I can’t do anything (John 15). Remember therefore from where you have fallen repent and do the first works…  (Revelation 2:5) I had to Fall on my knees as I had forgotten how far I’d fallen. The word ‘remember’ in its various Hebrew and Greek forms occurs over 250 times in the Bible. It is so easy to forget all that God has done for me. It is important to look back at my own life as well as the history of the church, both local and global, to remember all that God has done. What are the first works?

• Remember how you used to spend time in Scripture not because you had to but you wanted to?

• Remember how you used to pray any time and all the time for anything?

• Remember the joy in getting together with other Christians any chance you could get?

• Remember how excited you were about telling others about Jesus no matter who they were?

Guzik puts it this way, “We might say that Satan does a masterful job in creating a sense of general dissatisfaction with these first works. Christians will run after almost every other  thing except the first works.”

Prayer

As I prepare for our 21 Day fast on September 1st, I’m actually looking forward to it. To spend less time with the distractions of this world and more time chasing the flame of Your Spirit is exactly what I need. I didn't notice the slow walk away from You. Forgive me for how I’ve been working for You, but not loving You will all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I want to put You first not just in my journaling at the beginning of the day but all throughout the day. I want to know Your heart so I surrender mine.