Revelation 2:5
"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
In the sports world, a team will often study film after a game to see what caused them to lose. One of the worst feelings to experience is the defeat after a hard fought game. I have always hated losing and the bitter taste it left in my mouth. That bitter taste caused me to analyze what caused the loss and not do it again.
God said to the church of Ephesus, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen..." When you read about the church of Ephesus, you can see they were known for their hard work, patience and hatred of sin. They were a church that exposed the false prophets and the lies they proclaimed. Yet, this good church fell from their greatness and was given a second chance to get up and to be used again.
In the Christian life, you are going to fall. Because you are a sinner, there will be a battle you fight and there will be times when you lose the battle. The key to winning the battle in the Christian life is getting back up. When you fall, you would be wise to remember where you fell and study the failure so you can avoid it the second time. It is never good when you fall, but to fall again at the same place is unnecessary. We are admonished to remember where we fall. There are some things we can learn from the church of Ephesus that will help us to avoid falling.
First, remember the works you stopped doing when you fell. Oftentimes it is not what we did that caused us to fall, but it is what we stopped doing when we fell. This church had several works for which they were known, but God admonished them for stopping those works. They lost their love for what they did and stopped them. Friend, it takes character to keep on doing what you are supposed to do for Christ when the excitement is gone, but don't ever stop doing the works of God. You need to keep your works fervent for God and don't let age, time and weariness stop you from doing the works God has called and commanded you to do.
Second, remember your love when you fall. Have you fallen in love for something else? Has your love for God waned throughout the years? Do you find yourself more passionate about other things than you do the things of God? It is so easy to let other things pull you from the love of God. You can certainly remember a time in your life when your love for God and the things of God was preeminent in your life. My question to you is, have you lost that love? If you are going to correct what you have done wrong, then you must remember what took that passion away and forsake it.
Third, remember your spirit when you fall. The church of Ephesus lost the spirit of revival when they fell. Christian, keeping your spirit right is very important to serving God. You must watch that you keep a spirit of revival and excitement for the things of God. Simply put, do you have to go to church and do the things of God or do you get to do these things? When your spirit is defeated in the things of God, you will eventually fall.
The greatest truth about this church is that God gave them another chance to see Him working through them again. If you will take the time to remember where you fell and correct the problem, God will use you again. God is a God of the second chance, and He desires to use you in a mighty way. I challenge you to correct what caused you to fall so that your love and spirit for the works of God will become passionate and alive again.