Scripture Reading: Revelation 2:1-7
In AD 61 or 62, the apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus. It eloquently plumbed the depths of salvation in Christ and called the Ephesians to zeal and truth. Some 30 years later the apostle John wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus as well, recorded in Revelation 2:1-7.
John’s letter included a commendation of the church and a grave warning. The commendation was that the church had maintained doctrinal purity, exposing the error of false teachers (Rev 2:2). The warning was that the people had lost their first love (Rev 2:4) and no longer had a passion for the things that once stirred their hearts.
One of the dangers facing the evangelical church in America is a loss of passion for the truth. In many conservative circles the struggle is not that we do not say the right things in our doctrinal statements. The problem often is that the things we affirm do not really have any power in our lives. We have sometimes maintained theologically accuracy, but have lost our love for spiritual truth. It is possible for our heads to be right while our hearts are cold.
May the Spirit of God stir our hearts so that the things that we affirm doctrinally will affect the way that we live. May He fill our heads with great truths about Himself and may He inflame our hearts with love for Him and devotion to Him. And may He help us to strive to maintain not only purity in our doctrine, but purity in our lives.
