He Reigns
Bible reading
1 ‘To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 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. 6 But you have this in your favour: you hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
– Revelation 2:1-7 (NIVUK)
Devotional
Have you ever fallen in love? Do you remember that feeling in the pit of your stomach, the way your heart fluttered just thinking about the person? Do remember trying to figure out their favourite food, the colour they liked, or the perfume they preferred? Do you remember how much fun it was getting ready to meet together, to eat together, or go for a walk, or watch a movie? Do you remember the crazy things you did simply because you loved that person? Maybe you ate food you thought you would never try. Perhaps you climbed a mountain when you were terrified of heights. We have all done things for love, some of them noble, many of them crazy!
Over time our love tends to change. In mature relationships love deepens and moves into different areas of our heart. It manifests itself in new life and a family begins. We know that this love must be cared for because if left unattended things start to get dry and eventually dry up. Perhaps we stay together as a couple for the sake of the family but it becomes more of a routine than a conviction. We do all the right things but we don’t do things right! We hug, we talk about our finances, we make sure the children are OK, but we have no zeal, no passion, no real vision nor interest as to where this is going.
This is exactly what happened to the Church in Ephesus and what could happen to any church in the world, including ours. We start so passionately and end so tired. We have fantastic programs, great preaching, amazing music, but we don’t know why we are doing it anymore. We love our church, but we have fallen out of love with Jesus.
And so we have to remember. We need to take out the photo albums and talk about the stories of when we first met. We remind each other of how fun it was to be together, to share life and dreams together. We decide to love again, passionately. In the same way, we need to remember Jesus and fall in love with him all over again. When we are passionate about Jesus and when we know why we are doing what we are doing, we will be able to not only stand, but overcome whatever this world throws at us!
– Connie Main Duarte
This devotional is part of a series that helps us navigate the texts of the book of Revelation with fresh eyes. A new devotional every Saturday.
These devotionals are available in Portuguese and in English.