Can you remember the day you surrendered your life to Jesus? Can you remember the emotion you had when you were overwhelmed by His grace and love? Can you remember how blessed you were when you realised that your sin was forgiven and the promise of eternal life was yours? I clearly remember that day so many years ago! It was just like yesterday in many respects. That day was the first day of a deep relationship with someone who showed me what love really meant. That day I met Jesus! It was an overwhelming day of realisation and my heart was full of joy and love. I wanted to stand on the tallest building in Sydney and shout out for all to hear how wonderful my newfound Saviour and Lord was to me! How I loved Him!
It is now almost 40 years on and I ask myself – do I love Jesus like this now? Do I still want to stand on the tallest building and shout for all to hear how wonderful my Saviour and Lord is to me? To be truthful my love for Jesus has matured. I have come to know Him in ways that I never dreamed possible. And yes, I still desire to shout out to the world how wonderful He is! But it has not been like this all my life. There have been times where my love may have been in question. I did not slowdown in my service but there seemed to be something missing. In actual fact, my attention was being drawn to other issues and I started to indulge somewhat in the things of the world. My love grew cool toward my Saviour!
This is where we find the church at Ephesus in today’s reading of Scripture. They were ever so faithful in their service. They were serving and doing all that was required of them. They withstood mistreatment and at times persecution because of their faith. They held to the fundamental teachings and doctrines of the Christian faith. Yet their love for the Lord and Saviour Jesus had grown cold. This first letter of Jesus to the Ephesian Church is one that seeks to awaken them from this indiscretion. They had forgotten the importance of loving God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength!
It is important for us Christians, both individually and collectively as a church, to love Him with all we can muster. For some strange reason as we love Him deeply the ability for us to love others increases! Our service becomes a great joy and frees us from obligation and drudgery! Let each one of us carry out an audit on the love we presently have for Jesus – how deep is it? Is it time to fall in love with Him again as we reflect on what He has done for us?