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Do you remember when everything you did for God was motivated by your love for Him?
In new relationships it's easy to be motivated to put love into action, but over time, I think that things can seem like they take a bit more effort or intentionality. Our good intentions can be replaced by just "going through the motions". But our love for God ought to always remain the motivation for everything we do for him. In his letter the church at Ephesus, Jesus says "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first." Revelation 2:4 NIV. This is the first of the seven letters we will be looking at over the next 7 Sundays, and it's the one that hits me the hardest. The Church at Ephesus seemed to be doing everything right. Jesus acknowledged their labour, their testing of false prophets, and their endurance. Yet he had one problem with them; they had abandoned the love for Christ that they had at an earlier time. It would appear that as time went on, they had focused more on the outward activities of being a church. And they had drifted away from their relationship with their head. Because of this, Jesus warned them severely, saying; "If you don’t return to me, you will lose your place as a church." How many churches today seem to be doing everything right? But they do it in a legalistic fashion rather than out of love. And how many individuals are the same way? They seem to be good examples of the Christian life. Yet they have lost their intimate relationship with Christ. I am sure Christ’s warning to Ephesus is just as applicable to us today. Return to your first love before it’s too late. If we love God, we want to worship. If we love Him, we want to give an offering. If we love Him, we want to serve, and tell people about Him. When we do these things because we love God, in response to His love for us, and not out of habit or obligation or guilt, or duty, Jesus is honoured, and God is glorified. That's what the Lord was telling the church at Ephesus. He told them "You’re doing all this 'stuff;' that’s all good. But you don’t have the one most important thing: you’ve left your first love.” Your heart is not in it — and more than that, your heart is not with me! Therefore, we ought to examine our own hearts and motivations for serving, worshipping and tithing, and intentionally put our relationship with God and love for Him as our highest priority. All good things will flow from that love and be pleasing in his sight. Yours in Christ, Tanya
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