Message Magazine’s Online Devotional for Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Listen to “Thoughts in Worship 01.23.2018” on Spreaker.
This is devotional thought number 58 in our devotional series, God’s Promises are Sure!
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).
“Eating” to Live
There’s a whole lot of eating going on, but so few feel satisfied. Many eat belly-busting delectables, rich foods laden with salt, fat, and chemicals. Some drink hundreds or thousands of empty calories daily, and feel unsatisfied.
God has provided incredible nutrition in fruits, nuts, grains, vegetables, and the foods prepared from them in the healthiest ways. Unfortunately, too many accept the counterfeit, where their health is concerned, and pay the price.
Empty Calories
When I think of this spiritually, it brings to mind when God said, “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the promises assured to David” (Isaiah 55:1–3, HCSB).
For whatever reasons, the church at Ephesus (from our theme text) seemed to subsist on worldly counterfeits that could not satisfy their hunger for righteousness. They lost focus and began looking for love in all the wrong places. After they had been giving valiant effort to resist false teachings and teachers, they lost their zeal, like some spouses do once they are no longer in the honeymoon phase of their marriage. God promised that if they would simply return their hearts to Him, He would give them access to Tree of Life.
Come Back
In the same way Adam and Eve were distracted and lost focus of their love for God, we often do the same. We are zealous, faithful, patient, and loving for a time, but sometimes just lose steam and begin seeking satisfaction in ways that cannot fulfill the soul’s hunger; looking for love in all the wrong places.
God is saying, that if we will return our hearts to Him, and begin to eat and drink of Him and His Word, we will one day reach forth our hands and eat from the Tree of Life from which Adam and Eve lost access. We will be ushered into the portals of heaven when Jesus comes, and eat from the tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. We will have received the satisfaction for which millions have searched for thousands of years since Adam and Eve sinned. Give your all to God, and this will be your reward. The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
