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The
Cure. When the heart goes, our service drops, stops or slips into
an opportunity for personal honor and glory. Scripture becomes a tool
to say what we want it to say and other issues become important -
not Jesus. This is the message of the church at Ephesus.
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I
know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you
cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call
themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to
be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My
name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this
against you, that you have left your first love. Remember
therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the
deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will
remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent. Yet
this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate.
(NASB) Rev. 2:1-6 |
They
were serving the Lord. They were fighting evil, rejecting false apostles
and false doctrine. That sounds great and it was great. This would
be wonderful praise for any church. They were eagerly serving the
Lord. They were busy and had the energy for ministry. Yet, they had
a problem. They were serving the Lord, but not from a heart of love.
They had other motivations. The Holy Spirit praised them for their
service and then told them to add love - "you have left your
first love." They were busy Christians without a heart for God.
So who were they serving?
Conclusion: Some
in the church today are busy, very busy serving someone or something
from their hearts, but often it is not the Lord Jesus. They are serving
but their heart, are not focused on Jesus. Often our service is not
for the Lord but for ourselves. Good intentions turn to self-service.
It happens easily. Many Christians start with hearts committed to
serving Jesus and somewhere along the way we find ourselves serving
service. God wants us serving Him from our hearts. Here are two verses
to remind us Jesus wants our hearts while we serve Him.
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And
He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD
WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR
MIND.’ (NASB) Matt. 22:37
If
you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
(NASB) John 14:15 |
When
we truly love our Lord, we will WANT to serve Him. That is the mark
of a true relationship with Him! A heart that WANTS to serve Jesus
- to please Him!
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You
are My friends, if you do what I command you.
(NASB) John 15;14 |
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