Love is the most used and abused sentiment in the world. It has healed many hearts and broken many others. Interestingly, love is the key theme of all 66 of the Bible's books. The very definition of God comes in the context of love, and the greatest commandments in the Bible are based on love.
Because God is LOVE, He desires for His love to be duplicated throughout the earth. That is why, as children of God, we have been commanded to LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE. However, Jesus gives us a warning in Matthew 24:12, when sin and lawlessness abound, the love of many will wax cold.
In the Book of Revelation, we learn from the Church of Ephesus what happens when our love waxes cold. While Jesus affirmed the Church of Ephesus for their perseverance, He had one complaint against them. Amid persevering, they lost the most important thing; their proper expression of love for God and others.
The solution was to repent and redo the works associated with their first love. And, Jesus firmly told them that failure to facilitate this act of turning back would result in removal of their lampstand.
Like the Church of Ephesus, Jesus wants us to persevere, but he also wants us to love people. Have you considered if there are places where you have persevered, but your love for God and others has grown cold along the way? Do you need to turn back and revisit the place where you invested in your first love?
Check out this message from Pastor Eric to learn the definition of a church's lampstand and how to know if you are in a spiritual danger zone.
“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)