Monday, January 3, 2022

Life as it is…..03/01/2022- Dr. Johnson Cherian

To the church at Ephesus (in the 2nd chapter of the book of Revelation), Jesus had many good things to say. It had plentiful works, arduous labor, patient endurance, it did not tolerate evil men and discerned false apostles and dealt with them appropriately. What more could Jesus ask from a church or believers, one could ask! But there you are. Jesus says something so strikingly painful, that whoever in the church, especially the leaders when they heard it, they would shake their heads and say, “What more can we do?” Jesus had said, “Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place. (Revelation 2:4, 5)

We are speaking here of a Church which earlier had great leaders like Timothy and John, the Apostle. Was the sin so glaring that Jesus warns them that the Church would cease to exist if it did not repent? And cease to exist it did, because they did not repent.

Jesus spoke about the Ephesian Church to have left its first love. 30 years back then, the Apostle Paul had written to the same church, saying, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ sincerely. (Ephesians 6:24)

So the question arises for believers and Churches in our present time. Have we left out first love?

We may be doing everything that a believer or Church is supposed to do. Worship, prayer, meditation of God’s Word, evangelism…..yet, without any intimacy with Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Has all that we do, become a routine or a burden, without any love for Jesus?

The question is are we enjoying our relationship with Jesus? “Delighting” would be the right word, as we read of in several scriptures in the Word of God.

…..his (Jehoshaphat’s) heart took delight in the ways of the Lord. (2 Chronicles 17:6)…

But his delight is in the law of the Lord…. (Psalm 1:2)

Delight yourself in the Lord…. (Psalm 37:4)

I delight to do your will….. (Psalm 40:8)

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments…. (Psalm 112:1)

Many believers delight in serving Jesus initially in their walk with him, but as time goes by, their first love wanes and then they just do things because they have to. If we have left our first love, this is the time and season to repent and love Jesus from our hearts and delight in serving him.

As the return of our Savior looms on the horizon, some of us need to do a diligent heart search and love our Savior in sincerity, as Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian Church.

www.johnsoncherian.com

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