SERVICE
Opening Prayer
All thanks and praise to you, my wondrous, gracious God. May my life reflect your goodness.
Read REVELATION 2:18–29
To the Church in Thyatira
18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’[a]—just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star. 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Footnotes
- Revelation 2:27 Psalm 2:9
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Having ‘ears to hear’ means to be attentive to what God is saying. Ask that you will be sensitive to the voice of the Spirit as you read and pray today.No church is perfect, and the church in Thyatira had allowed ungodly influences to seep into its very being. Even so, the believers there are commended for their lively service for God, which had not gone unnoticed.
Faith has to be put into practice, otherwise it is dead (James 2:14–17). Every local church is to consider how best to serve God in their community, reaching out with practical help and sensitive outreach. Such good deeds are not to earn us favor with God but to express our love and our faith. We serve others because the love of Christ constrains us, and we get involved in various projects because our faith prompts us to do so.
The activity level of the church in Thyatira was increasing, too, and they were doing more than before (v 19). There is of course a danger here. We can be so busy doing things for God that we forget to be with God. Overextending ourselves can lead to individual burnout and community weariness, but it need not be so if what we do is done in his strength and under his direction.
Apply
What opportunity do you have to serve God in your church and community? Are you doing too little, or too much? Pray that what you do will be motivated by love and sustained by faith.
Closing prayer
Dear Lord, distractions and fear often keep me from hearing you. I commit myself anew to paying attention to you and attuning my spiritual ear to hear your voice.
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