Daily Devotional | Revelation

Resilient – A Revelation Daily Devotional – Day 7

Cedar Creek Church August 3, 2025

Day 7 – August 3

Read or listen to the audio version of the Bible Reading and Daily Devotional.

To the Church in Ephesus

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

The first “letter” stemming from John’s vision is addressed to the church at Ephesus. This port city, the fourth largest in the Roman Empire at the time, served as a central hub for the early Christian faith. It was a melting pot of both Asian and African cultures under the control of the empire.

It’s easy to imagine the many difficulties that would accompany a diverse, multicultural, and multiethnic body of believers. Yet, the opening of this letter seems positive. This church is flourishing. It is growing, serving, enduring suffering, and spreading the Gospel beyond its borders. Way to go, Ephesians!

However, the fiery, judgmental eyes seen in John’s vision of Jesus a chapter earlier reveal where even this seemingly vibrant body of faith has begun to wander astray: “You have lost your first love.”

In middle school, the rage was folding love notes like a paper football and flicking them toward the one you “loved.” At the risk of the note being intercepted and read aloud by the teacher, resulting in unquantifiable shame and embarrassment, the love that motivated these letters made getting them delivered essential. “First love” had a funny way of inspiring reckless abandon, didn’t it?

Many may remember that feeling with a significant other, but undoubtedly the ease of living out that emotion has remained anything but easy. Life pulls focus, and most of the time this drift is inward. Occupations, schedules, bank accounts, the monotony or chaos of life, and an inexhaustible list of other things can make the bliss of “first love” feel like a forgotten time relegated only to the past.

The same can be true of a believer’s relationship with Christ. The song asks how precious that grace appeared during the first hour, but where is the song about that same grace at the 1000th hour? We, like the Ephesian church, may have drifted. The boxes are checked: serving, giving, community, study, prayer, and whatever else we can add for good measure. Yet, if not attentive, these things can become tasks much more than they are paper footballs we are desperate to write and deliver.

The call to the Ephesian church is to repent – to turn around and go the other way. May we strive to love Jesus in all we do. If that endeavor becomes a task to complete rather than a God to love, may we wake up before we have lost that “first love” once again.

Pray: God, help me to love you more completely.