The first congregation to receive a letter is in Ephesus. It was a great and busy city with a congregation founded by Paul, pastored by Timothy and later by John himself. Legend has it that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was buried there.
The congregation worked hard and were diligent. Jesus recognises this in the early part of the letter: "I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary."
But hard work and good doctrine faded away in the light of the basic diagnosis: heart-sickness. They had forsaken their first love. Going through the motions had become the order of the day.
Sometimes this is us too. We are adept at the rituals and traditions, we say the right things, attend the services and meetings, but the thought of the cross doesn't take our breath away and privilege of worship doesn't make us want to lift our hearts and hands.
There is a prescription for the "lovelost condition."
1. _R_emember what it was like when you first understood God's love.
2. _R_epent of the things that distracted you. (Repent means "turn around.")
3. _R_e-do the things you did when you were "love-full."
As with many prescriptions, it's pretty obvious and simple, but if we follow it, the results are a heart that starts to come alive again.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
