This morning I found myself in John's Revelation reading chapter 2 verses 1-7. In this passage the church of Ephesus was John’s subject. I saw an energetic church, a popular church, a church which looked from the outside like it had everything together. By all indications a church with good reputation and being well attended. With everything the church of Ephesus was doing right they lost their first love, they didn’t love the LORD! Another passage came to mind, The Great Commandment and it’s found in Matthew and Mark, from Mark 12:28-34 “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.” This Scribe understood the necessity to love the LORD but apparently had not reached that point, see verse 34. The church at Ephesus had gotten there but somehow and I believe in a very subtle way strayed away. This thought came to me, where does the LORD see today’s church? Struggles, problems, personalities, failure and sin challenge everyone of us daily. Have we allowed the practice of religion to interfere with our love for the LORD? I’m thankful for this insight and I hope that by sharing it others may be as moved as I am.