IT HAD ONCE BEEN SO VIBRANT, that church the Apostle Paul started in Ephesus. He'd lit the fire in their hearts. He'd told them about Jesus Christ, his healings, his resurrection. He'd preached to thousands, in the massive theater. He'd taught them to heal, to love each other like family, to resist the pull of big-city immorality. But then Paul left them to care for the other Christian churches around the Mediterranean. And now, the church members at Ephesus had been on their own for over a generation. Sadly, things were very different.
Sure, they labored to keep the faith. They endured persecution, refused the lure of the great Temple of Diana, punished heretics. But the fire was gone. And no one knew it better than John the Revelator, pastor for Ephesus and six other churches in Asia.
From his prison on the island of Patmos, his martyrdom possibly close upon him, John wrote the Ephesians a no-nonsense letter. He acknowledged their achievements. But then he spoke his heart. You've left your "first love," he told them. "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works" (Rev. 2:5).
