Through his word, Jesus is calling you back to your first love (Revelation 2:4). He is telling you not to give in to the sins of your culture. Do not fear what you are about to suffer (Revelation 2:10). Wake up and strengthen what remains. 

Remember from where you have fallen (Revelation 2:4). Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die (Revelation 3:2). These two phrases, the first spoken to the church in Ephesus, and the second spoken to the church in Sardis, summarize the condition of our spiritual lives from time to time.

For countless Christians, it is easy to reflect on our Christian life and remember a time when we burned bright for Jesus. A time when we looked forward to getting together with the saints on the Lord’s Day. A time when we could not get enough of God’s word throughout the week. But for many of us, something has changed. Our love for God has grown cold, and what remains feels like it is on life support.

This deadening of our spiritual life can happen in countless ways. Sometimes it is because we have begun to dabble with blatant sin. As we look through the letters to the seven churches, we see that sexual immorality is often a culprit. If it is not that, it is usually because some other earthly temptation has grabbed ahold of us, and we begin to give in (Revelation 2:14). Other times, we may avoid giving in to the sin ourselves, but we grow tired of standing against the culture, and we begin to support the sexual immorality or other indulgences of those who desire them.

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