FOCAL POINT EPHESUS: MY FIRST LOVE (NOW) IS _____________________________________

² “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. ³ You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Rev. 2:2-4

Is it me, or is that an exclamation point at the end of verse 4?  Was Christ really trying to make a point here?  Was there something He really desired to get our attention?  I mean the previous verses were patting us on the back, and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves, then comes this verse that is like a kick in the butt or a punch in a gut, that HEY YOU DON'T LOVE ME, or EACH OTHER AS YOU DID AT FIRST.   It reminds me of a marriage that has grown stale....(here's a page out of this past weekend's transcript....)

Take for instance....as a BABY/TODDLER/CHILD your FIRST LOVE is YOU.  I mean everything is about your want and your needs.  Your needs to be fed, changed, held.   Everything in the scope of your eyes and reach of your hand is categorized as MINE!  MY TOYS, MY FRIENDS, MY FRENCH FRIES....etc.  Prayerfully at some point you transition out of this selfish pattern of existing, but we all know people well above their twenties that still think the world revolves around them.

But some of us actually do mature, and before long our FIRST LOVE changes to be about A SIGNIFICANT OTHER.  This is played out when daughters don't have healthy relationships with their dad, that they seek that masculine protection and approval of another man.  They compete with other women for this.   They look for their validation in this other person.  Guys look for a woman or women to validate their worth as a man, because their idea of what it means to be a man wasn't modeled well so it's skewed in the media and locker rooms.   So sometimes these people get married and realize that they can't fulfill each others expectations, because REALISTICALLY GOD didn't mean for you to complete each other...HE DOES THAT...He just wanted us to compliment and care for one another.

Some people actually mature past this stage, and begin to idolize their jobs, their success, their things....which all are rooted in selfishness.  Their FIRST LOVE becomes THEIR STUFF!  These are people who conversation revolve around their things and their accomplishments.  Not the providence of GOD in their lives.    The people of EPHESUS knew how hard they worked, they knew what trophies they had created for their hard work, but unfortunately they totally forgot who it was for, and what it was all about.

What about you? A seeds takes and takes, with the end goal of seed is to become a fruit bearing TREE...and the production of FRUIT is not for the TREE, but for others.    SO, why do you do what you do?  Is it a shallow answer of it helps to put bread/meat on the table.    Are you devoted to your wife, more than the LORD.   Paul talked about being married presents challenges where the spouse is committed to fulfilling the needs of the spouse and forced to figure out where does the LORD fit in.   If you are single do you really think it's all about you, or have you discovered it's about HIM?  HAS YOUR LOVE MATURED to where because of your CONNECTION TO YOUR TRUE FIRST LOVE, THE VINE, that YOU PRODUCE OUT OF THAT LOVE?  All of our motivations change from time to time, but the question is have your motivation been cemented in something that is sure?   THE ACTUAL LOVE OF CHRIST!   LGLP