The Church in Ephesus worked hard. They had patient endurance, they hated evil, they withstood false prophets, they suffered in the name of Christ, and didn’t grow weary in doing so.

Yet despite all that, God rebuked them, as they had lost their first love.

How easy it is to get so caught up in the doing of God’s work, in resisting evil, in protesting things in society that go against scripture, in political debate – and yet losing sight of the ‘why’.
Why do we as Christians do what we do? It should not be for personal gain or aggrandisement; it should not be just to win an argument or have our position prevail. It should be born out of a deep passionate love for Jesus.

Ephesus was a town that was at the intersection of many trade routes. The town was busy and a centre of commerce in the Roman times.

How easy and subtly does being busy, and striving to accomplish often honourable objectives, gradually steal that place in our hearts that should be reserved for the love of God?

Let us learn from Ephesus and do all the things they were commended for without forgetting the most important thing. To keep God first in our life.