THE FIRE OF DEVOTION TO CHRIST
Take time to Read Revelation 2:1-7. This word to the Ephesus church reveals that the fire of our “first love” to Jesus Christ is far more important than many other commendable things we may do for Christ—
our labor for Him,
our patience as we wait for Him,
our patience with one another,
our intolerance of those who do evil things,
our not fainting in the day of battle,
and even fact checking those who are going around the churches proclaiming to be apostles but are liars.
All of these things that are important and on which we place much emphasis fade into comparison to the question: Are we continuing to walk in the fire of our first love to Christ?
Our devotion and worship to Christ must come first. In this passage Jesus is walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks. He is attending and adjusting the fire on these candles so they will burn more brightly. He warns the Ephesus church that their candlestick is in danger of being removed because their love for Christ is not as bright as it should be.
“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and REPENT, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent” (v. 5).
We note that the first of the 10 primary commandments of God in Deuteronomy 6 is: “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with ALL thine heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy might.”
Again in Matthew 22:27, 38 Jesus says: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy mind. This is the FIRST AND GREAT commandment.”
Worshipping God is one of the greatest ways to express our love to God. We must never underestimate it. If we do not have “fired up” love and worship, we will have our candlestick removed. I am sure we don’t want this to happen.
Fathers, we must, along with our wives and families in our homes, greatly increase our loving worship to God. You can make this happen with your family worship time every day, not just once a week on Sundays.
Be encouraged.
COLIN CAMPBELL
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