July 29: REMEMBER ME
“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.” Revelation 2:2-3
In Jesus’ address to the infant church at Ephesus, His double mention of patience, along with pointing out that they have persevered is a wonderful affirmation. Our modern times mirror the worldliness and busyness that characterized the city of Ephesus – we might add: on steroids!
The evils currently being perpetuated are becoming more difficult by the day to bear. Many who claim to speak for God are better described as “silver-tongued devils” who equate obedience to God’s moral law with legalism. The fiery darts of Satan to destroy the believer’s relationship with God come from professed believers as well as from the unbelieving world. Jesus complimented the early church for their perseverance and patience. Their labors, coupled with the fact that they had not become weary, He affirmed as labors of love.
“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (v.4). They had developed some good habits and strategies, but their main focus had been diverted. This quickening rebuke from the Lord has application to each individual whose devotion to kingdom work has caused a shift of focus away from the Lord Himself. It is as if Jesus is saying, “Remember Me.”
At the last fall feast, the Feast of Tabernacles (this is the feast that points forward to the first thousand years of the redeemed with Christ – see Revelation 20:4,6), Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). Notice that He did not say “you will become a reservoir of blessings” but “the blessings that I put into your heart will spill out into the lives of others.” This is how Jesus describes labors of love with a balanced focus: it is essential that He is our first love. He said, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (a summary of the first four commandments) and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (a summary of the last six commandments). This is a true description of Christlikeness. The main characteristic of the Son of God is self-expenditure. If we want to become like Christ, the success of our spiritual life will not be measurable as the world measures success, for what God pours through us is not subject to human measurements. We are meant to be “leaky vessels” which is why we need the infilling of His Spirit on a daily basis. This is the secret of living under grace (Romans 6:14-15).
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12
Dig deeper: Psalm 1:5-6; Daniel 8:11-13; Hosea 4:6; Matthew 5:11; 7:21; 19:17; John 7:17; 14:15, 23-24; Acts 3:21; Galatians 6:9; 2 Timothy 2:15-17; Hebrews 5:9; James 4:17; 1 John 4:1; 5:3