Ruth 1-4 | Luke 8:1-25
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.” Ephesians 1:17
The last book in the New Testament is Revelation. While some of us avoid the book of Revelation at all costs because it talks about beasts, plagues and scary things that we do not want to go near, others of us love to read the book of Revelation in one hand with the newspaper on the other hand and try to line up world events with God’s Word. Whether we are overwhelmed or overenthusiastic, the bottom line from the book of Revelation is that Jesus Christ is King and He gets the last word on all of it.
Revelation was written by John, who is the beloved disciple of Jesus, near the end of his life while he was exiled on the Island of Patmos. The opening chapters contain a message to seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. The first church John addressed was the church in Ephesus. We could probably imagine the excitement for the early Christians in Ephesus when they received a letter from John addressed to them. But it was not John’s message, but Jesus’s as Revelation 1:1-2 tells us: “The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” In other words, Jesus Christ gave a message to the church in Ephesus through John.
Revelation 2:2-3 says, “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. You have persevered and have endured hardships for My name, and have not grown weary.” What an encouragement this must have been for the church in Ephesus—they work hard, show perseverance and are diligent in protecting the powerful truth of the gospel! But then, they are told words that no one wants to hear: “Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first” (Revelation 2:4-5).
The shortcoming of the church in Ephesus can appear in our own lives as well. We can be doing all the right things for Jesus and yet, our hearts are far from Him. More than our good works, what Jesus wants is to be in an intimate loving relationship with us. How can we deepen our relationship with Him today?
PRAYER
Precious Jesus, I confess to You how I am caught up in the works that I do and have forsaken my love for You. Show me how I can deepen my relationship with You. Thank You, Lord.