Pastor's Pen
May/June 2002

The Church At Ephesus
I want us to consider one of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor during biblical times, the church at Ephesus. Ephesus was a very busy port city located at the mouth of the Cayster River. Likewise, the church there was a very busy church. John wrote of the labors of the church at Ephesus in Rev 2:2-3: "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience…and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted." This church was involved in many labors for the Lord and He commended them for their good works.

First Love Lost
However, this church had a serious shortcoming and the Spirit of God through John had to address it. The Lord puts it this way: Rev 2:4 "Thou hast lost thy first love…" This church was busy and full of good works yet in their personal lives they had lost the personal relationship with Jesus Christ, they had lost that beautiful connection with their first love.

At one time this church was very much alive. The apostle Paul, while at Ephesus, had experienced a full-scale revival for an extended period of time. Yet somehow the wonderful communion between the true believer and Christ had been broken. It had been disrupted by all of the lesser responsibilities of life and dare I say even the labors of the kingdom.

Jesus established the priorities for the believer in His words to Martha; she said to the Lord: "Bid my sister to help me". Jesus responded in effect: "listen Martha, your sister Mary has chosen the best part (waiting at My feet) and it is not right to take that away from her." The church at Ephesus had lost sight of this relationship. Like the woman in the Song of Solomon; she was so busy attending the master’s vineyard that she neglected her own (personal) vineyard. My dear friend this too can be where you are at today, busy yet inside you know you are empty and lifeless.

The History of Ephesus
This truth is taken to the next level when you understand the history of the city of Ephesus. Ephesus was a port city, which had a slow but constant flow of silt filling its harbor. Silt is the very smallest visible particle of earth, much smaller than a grain of sand. It is indicative of the little things that creep in to steal our time and devotion from the Lord.

Every morning and every evening this extremely fine deposit of earth would flow into the port of Ephesus undetected until it became part of the beach. This fine silt was more of a threat than anyone could have imagined because eventually the whole port of Ephesus was completely buried under tons and tons of earth that washed in little by little. Because of this fine silt the location of the modern day Ephesus is over 5 miles further inland than it was during the writing of the scriptures!

The Lesson For Life
What can we learn from the church at Ephesus? That losing our first love happens undetected little by little. We can start out in our walk with the Lord full of life and have a wonderful connection to the Savior. As time progresses we can become busier and busier. It seems harmless enough. In fact, it may even be for the Kingdom of God that we are laboring. Eventually our relationship with Jesus has become bogged down; like the grains of silt accumulating into mounds that block the channel If we continue on this path eventually we loose complete communion with Him altogether. Our walk is reduced to a lifeless Ceremony.

Dear friend I encourage you to take stock today, do you feel the silt of busyness covering the life you once had with the Lord? Stop the cycle by beginning to seek the Lord with fresh purpose. Begin to let the flow of life come back again. I pray we will not end up like the church at Ephesus, once brimming with life but eventually overcome and buried with all of the little things of life and nothing left for the Lord.

Pastor Frank Anderson is an associate
minister of the Church of Mt. Zion.