​Week 48, Day 5

​Week 48, Day 5
December 2, 2022
Scripture: Revelation 2
 
“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Revelation 2:4–5)
 
The opening of Revelation is a letter to the churches in Asia Minor. There are 7 churches specifically addressed by John, but they could be written to any church, during any era.
 
I have noticed before in my studies that the way Jesus is described in chapter 1, is brought back into the picture as a characteristic of Jesus highlighting the start of the letter to each respective church. “These are the words of him who are the first and the last…” or “these are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand…” Each phrase that opens the letter to the church comes from the description of Christ in chapter 1.
 
Jesus is in the midst of the churches and he knows what they are going through. Jesus is uniquely qualified in all his wonderful characteristics and ways, to know where we are doing well, where we need encouragement and where we need outright rebuke that leads us towards repentance.
 
I’ll pay particular attention to Ephesus today, they are challenged to remember their first love.
 
Whatever pressures have come the way of the Ephesus church, they are faltering in their first love. I’ve read through Revelation several times, and at the end of the day I think it is a book about worship. Will we love Jesus Christ above all else, despite great consequences? Will we endure the pressure to conform to the world and stay faithful to praising God?
 
Remember our first love! Despite growing pressure to conform to the patterns of this world, we honor Christ with our whole lives.
 
He knows what we are going through, and he keeps calling us back to love him above everything.