Revelation 3:3 – “Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.” (NLT)
This is part of a letter to the church in Sardis, a city at the time located in what is today western Turkey. The church had a reputation for being alive but Jesus pronounced them as dead (v.1). How could this be? It is possible to look good on the outside but be rotting on the inside. They are admonished to revisit their earlier faith and hold to it firmly.
This is a malady that affects many Christians. Over time faith and belief in certain things erodes and gives way to an emptiness and hollowness inside. Maybe certain circumstances, disappointments and experiences in life caused them to continue forward but without the conviction they once possessed which enlivened them. Their spiritual condition continued to deteriorate and brought upon them a slumber that they were unaware of. They thought themselves to be alive but were apparently oblivious to the condition Jesus announced to them. They are told to “wake up!”
What about us? Are they certain things we used to believe in but life has knocked those beliefs out of us? Let us humble ourselves, repent and turn to God. Let us revisit what we heard and believed at first and hold on tightly. These are eternal truths that are worth fighting for.