Light My Fire!

Read Revelation 2:1 - 3:22

Pastor Sim Fulcher

It was 101 degrees and humid in Kentucky the day our oldest daughter got married. But my
wedding homily directed to the bride and groom that morning was about another kind of
heat. It was about the fires of love, and I used the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7) to get my
point across.

What was the big problem in Ephesus? It was not their lack of effort. They worked hard.
Nor was it their tolerance of evil. They rejected all evil. It was not about being unfaithful.
It had nothing to do with their lack of endurance. They did all these things well. It was the
passionate love for Jesus Christ himself that was missing. They had become a congregation
which had lost its fire, passion and devotion to Christ.

I warned the wedding couple about two essentials. One: Keep the fires of love and passion
strong. Two: Keep their relationship with Jesus Christ solid.

I reminded them of the words of Jesus in which he admonished the Ephesians not to let the
fire of their love grow cold.

Of the seven churches in these two chapters of Revelation, three needed their fires ‘re-lit’. They
were the church in Ephesus (2:1-7), the church in Sardis, which had a reputation of being alive
but was dead (3:1- 6), and the church in Laodicea (3:14-22), which had grown lukewarm. It is
the most well known of the seven because of the image of Jesus standing at the door of our
lives and saying, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens
the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (3:20).

Many have come to know Jesus Christ through this image of Him standing at the door, and
have joined his family and “shared a meal with him.” This was the way that it happened with
me, but it wasn’t easy. I thought I had invited Jesus into my life, but He did not come. Then I
read the verse carefully. It does not say to invite Him in. It says to open the door. That was hard
because I knew if He came into my life I would never be the same. “This is a big deal! Is this
something I really want?” were constantly in my thoughts until one day I opened up the door.
Jesus came in. Since then I’ve tried to keep that door open all the time.

P R AY E R

Lord Jesus, I’m holding that door open to You. If I’ve never opened it before, it’s open now.
Either way, Lord, come in and light my fire. And, Lord, help me with a doorstop so that door
will never close. In Your name I pray, Amen.
 DAY 97

QUESTIONS
Is your door open?

How can you check on it to make sure that it is?

Has your fire been quenched or is it still burning brightly?

What can you do to re-establish the passion you once had for Jesus?

MY REFLECTIONS
Does any particular verse (SCRIPTURE) in today’s reading speak to you?

OBSERVE what this verse is saying to you:

How can you APPLY this verse to your life today?

My PRAYER for today is: