NO BIBLE NO BREAKFAST DAILY BIBLE REFLECTIONS AND MORE

The church of Ephesus commended but admonished to return to the love that first existed among them. 

REFLECTION 

A love that’s lost is the theme for our reflection today. Love in the Bible refers to two sides of the same coin and that is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40). From the commendation given to the Church of Ephesus, we can safely say the church loved Jesus and had faith and hope in Him therefore John wrote that “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. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. (Revelation 2:2-3)

Without love, spirituality and faith are incomplete in the church of Christ and in the life of a believer. In fact, our worship is centred on our love for God and our affection for one another. It is for this reason Paul wrote in  1 Corinthians 13:1-3 that  “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 

We must remember that the standard of judgment on the day of the Lord is whether or not the church and for that matter, Christians have shown love in its various forms. The church must be visible in the world preaching the Gospel and living the Gospel through love.  Jesus reminds us that no matter how righteous  and committed we are as believers in Lord, on that day, the Lord may say to us “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:35-40).

My dear friend, we must return to the unconditional love Jesus showed us on the cross and extend this love to all and sundry especially the poor and needy for “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27).  We are called upon through the admonishment given to the Church of Ephesus that “Remember 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. (Revelation 2:5). The Church represent the lampstand, remember Jesus for this reason said in  Matthew 5:14-16  that “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16). The light of the church can only be seen shining and making an impact in the world if Christians allow the unconditional love of Christ to lead in the four walls of their churches and the same love extended to those who are not in the church but have also been created in the image and likeness of God and are at the receiving end of poverty, war, injustice, sickness and hardship. Shalom. 

PRAYER 

HOLY SPIRIT, STRENGTHEN US TO KEEP THE LIGHT OF LOVE SHINING IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF BELIEVERS. HELP THE CHURCH TO BE THE CHANNEL OF GOD’S LOVE TO THE WORLD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. AMEN

Jean-Paul Agidi (Rev)