“… To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” Revelation 2:7.
We’ve all perhaps heard the story of the man who told his persistent wife who felt unloved that he had told her at their wedding that he loved her, and if he changed his mind, he would let her know. Every couple in divorce court began in love at a wedding. So what happened in Ephesus?
They had “abandoned the love [they] had at first.” This should be a warning to any church with a past record of mighty works, toil, and patient endurance against so many things that are wrong without growing weary. It is not about going through the motions of externally ‘playing church’; God wants us to internally do all things in word or deed in the name of Christ Jesus while giving thanks—to love Him because He first loved us.
Is this hard to do? Certainly, but to the one who conquers, He’ll let us eat from the tree of life—that which, because of sin, we’re blocked by a flaming sword from eating.and living forever.
Yet, we see that those who “wash their robes,” through what His Son has done on the cross, have access to the Tree of Life (Revelation 22). So, do you love Him like you did?
─Doug Kashorek