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Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

Daniel 11:3-12:13
Revelation 2

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Revelation 2:2-4 (CSB): “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. I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.”

Reflecting on God’s Word

In Revelation 2-3, we read of seven types of churches that will exist during the church age. As the list gets started, we are introduced to the church in Ephesus.

In Revelation 2:2-3, we read about some qualities of the church that were highly commendable. If any church exemplified these qualities, we would say almost without any reservation that the church must be fully pleasing to the Lord.

Here are the qualities:

  • They were incredibly busy, to the point of physical exhaustion, in the Master’s work (“I know your works, your labor, and your endurance”).
  • They hated sin and would not allow ongoing sin in their church (“I know … that you cannot tolerate evil people.”)
  • They had cultivated theological minds and sniffed out error in their midst (“You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.”)
  • They embraced Jesus and would not deny Him even though it brought on severe persecution (“I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and have not grown weary.”)

Goodness! That’s an impressive list! Any church that could be described with those qualities would almost certainly have Heaven’s thunderous applause!

So, we are surprised that Jesus threatens to disown them and remove them from His oversight and care (“I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” [v. 4])

What had they done?! What could such an impressive church have done to bring about such a dire warning?!

Revelation 2:4 (CSB): “But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.”

They had abandoned their “first love.” They were breaking the first and greatest commandment that calls us to love the Lord our God with all of our being (Matthew 22:37-38).

Apparently, the church of Ephesus was doing all the good things for some other reason. Maybe they were filled with pride and patted themselves on the back for being such a great church. Maybe they were trying to outdo the church down the road. Maybe they simply let their love for Jesus grow cold and didn’t realize how far they had fallen.

Regardless of the reason, the church at Ephesus was threatened with being disowned by Jesus, even though they were doing so many commendable things. Why? They weren’t doing it out of love for their Lord.

Maybe we should ask ourselves why we do what we do. Are we living for the Lord? Is our church doing great things for Him? If the answer is yes, that is all well and good. But we discovered in the text we have been investigating that if we aren’t doing the good things because we love Jesus, we may not be getting the applause from Heaven that we think we are.

So, friend, let’s commit, in the direction and power of God’s Holy Spirit, to obey God’s Word and make the most of the opportunities God sends our way. But let’s make certain that our motives are also aligned with what God desires. Let’s make sure that we are growing in our love relationship with Jesus so that everything we do flows from that relationship.

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you assess where you are in your love for Jesus. Ask Him to help you grow in it.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into what Jesus meant in Revelation 2:4, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“What does it mean to have left your first love (Revelation 2:4)?”

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of White Hall Baptist Church in Richmond, Kentucky (whitehallbaptistchurch.org)