I know your industry…But I have this [one charge to make] against you…[you have deserted Me, your first love]. – Revelation 2: 2, 4, Amplified Bible (AMP)

From time to time we need to be reminded of the trappings of the church of Ephesus. In Revelation 2, God praised the church for the following, admirable attributes:

• Industriousness
• Laboring for Christ’s work even in the face of persecution
• Patient endurance
• Intolerance of wickedness
• Quickness to prove and to root out false teachers

But immediately following such praise, God chided the Ephesians for not doing “the works you did previously [when first you knew the Lord]” Although the Bible does not specify in Revelation 2 what the Ephesians did when they first met The Lord, it’s not too hard to figure it out. What did Andrew do when he first met Jesus? He ran to tell his brother, Peter. What did the Samaritan woman at the well do as soon as Christ revealed Himself to her? She ran to tell her entire town.

Likewise, the natural response for most new converts is to, as a result of their joy, tell others about Jesus so that they can share in that joy. It is when the joy of salvation wears off – and when the fire of our love for Christ dwindles – that telling others ceases to be as urgent as it was before. Then, as we lose the passion for telling others about Christ, we fill that void with other pursuits: some good, and some bad. But even when we fill that void with everything that is good and righteous in God’s eyes, our service to Him is incomplete if it leaves out the most important service we can render to Christ – sharing His message of salvation with others.

It is absolutely wonderful to be industrious, diligent, and holy as we pursue our work for Christ. But if we use our work as an excuse to avoid spreading the Gospel, then the good has become the enemy of the best. God expects us to do our first works as our best, and He will accept nothing less. If we don’t pursue the work of evangelism that God has identified as His highest priority, then He might choose to place us on the shelf in favor of those of His children who will do the first works.

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