Revelation 1-3 Being In Their Shoes

As I began reading the messages that the Holy Spirit sent through John to those seven churches, God placed on my heart that I should consider what it would have been like to have been a member of those very churches and to have heard such a warning directed to me:

If I’d been an Ephesian:

                “I know what you do … how you work hard and never give up (YEA!!)
                But I have this against you (Oh no…. here it comes)
                You have left the love you had in the beginning … Remember where you were before you fell (Oh no … He knows I fell)
                Change your hearts and lives and do what you did at first (I guess I hadn’t realized how far away I’d gotten)
                If you do not change … (I can already tell I don’t want to hear the rest of that – I need to decide to change NOW)”

If I’d been from Smyrna, these words would have caught my attention:

                “Be faithful….”  (He knows I’ve not been faithful?)

If I’d been from Pergamum:

                “I know where you live … I have a few things against you … (Oh no … sounds like He’s headed my way right now and wants to talk about my sin)
                Change your hearts and lives.  If you do not … (oh no, I probably don’t want to hear what’s coming next…)
                I will come to you quickly and fight against them … Everyone should hear what the Spirit says… “ (Jesus will be fighting against me?  I didn’t think about my sin causing that!)

If I’d been from Thyatira:

                “I know what you do … I have this against you: … the teaching leads MY people to take part in sexual sin (He’s talking about church members, not unbelievers)
                I have given her time to change her heart and turn away from her sin, but she does not WANT to change (He’s getting impatient waiting on me to change, isn’t he?)
                I am the One who searches hearts AND minds, and I will repay each of you for what you have DONE” (He said hearts AND minds, so what I’ve done would be both thoughts AND actions, not just actions)
               

Man, these were churchgoers, just like me.  And they were sinners, just like me.  We can’t bury our heads in the sand and think, “My sins are forgiven,” because that only leads us to think we have an excuse to sin and get away with it.  Yet even as Christians we are human and our bodies are infected with the sin virus.  We are so very capable of sinning.  As Christ said, He seeks out and knows both hearts and minds.  He knows what we do and what we think, even if no one else on this planet does.  Our sins are not secret from Him.  Jesus said that He will fight against those in the church who sin.  Do I really want to be on the opposite side from Him?  NO, never! 

When He spoke about having given time to change, He’s indicating that He full well EXPECTS change to OCCUR in the lives of His followers.  He does not expect us to continue in our sin.  He wants US to want to change, and He will ENABLE us to do that, if we love Him enough.

It’s tough to remember that these were messages to Christians – to church members – not to unbelievers in the world; therefore, Christians should be heeding these messages all the more – me included.

Father, You know MY heart.  Sure, You know that I work hard at what You’ve called me to do, but You also know I’m very far from perfect.  You know I sin and You want me to change my heart and life as well.  If I someway think I don’t need to, I am dead wrong.  You can’t help but fight against any sin You find in Your children – after all, we are Your ambassadors here on this earth.  We would be misrepresenting You by continuing in sin.  I admit that some sins were easy to give up, yet others cause me to struggle still to this day.  How dangerous it is to call any sin a “pet sin”.  That’s like having a rattlesnake for a pet.  It was never meant to be, and it is deadly dangerous.  Father, hold me accountable not just for my actions, but also for every thought that is not of You, and call my hand if I ever attempt to rationalize any thought or action.  I simply must call it a sin and agree with You.  In my stubborn willfulness, lead me to want to change everything about my life that doesn’t conform to You, even if You know that I don’t want to make that change.  Don’t give up on me.  I don’t want to fight against the One who saved me.  I know I could never win if I did.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford