This week the sermon in church was from Revelations 2: the message to the church in Ephesus. The take home message was that if we have no love for God and for each other then we are no better than those who do not know God. In the simplicity of that statement, I was reminded of my posts on our covenant relationship and our responsibilities to the covenant. I am referencing these two short posts: We are Covenant People and Our Covenant Relationship (I encourage you to go back and read these and so I will keep this post short and sweet).

As part of the terms of the covenant, we are to love God and as Jesus clarified, this love is demonstrated in love for God and for each other as those two are not mutually exclusive.

What does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in [obedience to] all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am giving you this day for your own good? Deuteronomy 10: 12-13 BSB

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well. 1 John 4:20-21 BSB

Jesus sang the praises of the church in Ephesus in Revelations chapter 2 and if you never read verse 4 you’d think they were the model church. All that good however was negated by a lack of love for God and each other. Love for God and for each other is paramount. It is not optional. If we are to continue to enjoy the benefits of being in a covenant relationship then we have to adhere fully to the terms of the covenant, otherwise the consequences are dire (i.e. the removal of your lampstand from its place vs 5- If any of you have any thoughts about what this means feel free to leave a comment or send me a message). But there is hope. Thank God in Jesus there is always hope. And here is the hope we have:

Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.  Rev 2:5a NIV

So my question for you is “how are you doing with loving God and loving others?”

Yours Truly