After it was brought to the attention to the church at Ephesus, by Jesus...that they had drifted, or ‘fallen away from their first love’ (Rev. 2:4)...He admonished them to ‘repent and do what they did at the beginning when they first came to Him’ (5).

Do you know how this ‘drifting’ usually begins? Hebrews 2:1 tells us that it’s a result of not ‘giving the more earnest heed to the things we have heard’. You see, it’s not enough to just ‘hear the word’ (or memorize or quote or read it); we are expected to...do it. James makes the case that if we are just ‘hearers of the word but not doers...we deceive ourselves’ (James 1:22) (Did you know that deceived people don't know they are deceived?)

Why do you think so many sincere people sitting in churches today sense that something is ‘missing’ or ‘off’...in their lives and perhaps in their churches as well, yet are unable to put their finger on the answer? They know...there should be 'something more', yet they continue to struggle in/with sin; and while much effort has gone in to ‘cleaning up the outside of the cup’(Matt. 23:25), inwardly they remain untransformed. I would submit to you the reason for this is we have failed to heed the advice given by Mary at the wedding in Cana. The only way those pots of water were going to be miraculously transformed into wine by Jesus...was if the servants ‘did whatever He (Jesus) told them to do’ (John 2:5).

They did. And a miracle took place; His first miracle actually.

If someone asked you what the most often quoted Psalm from the Bible is, I bet you would point to Ps. 23. Many of you may know it by heart or at least can begin to quote the first few verses of it: “The Lord is my shepherd...” [pause]

There’s no question as to ‘who’ the shepherd is since Jesus Himself announced to the world that HE...is the ‘good shepherd’ (John 10:14). The question we need to address though? Is He ‘Your’ shepherd? The same could be said about Jesus Christ being Lord of all, as ‘every knee will bow and every tongue confess’ that indeed, He is (Phil. 2:10-11). But is He...’Your’ Lord? “Why call Him Lord if we are not going to do the things He says?”(Luke 6:46)

So the next time you feel compelled to quote or read or sing the 23rd psalm, take your time with those first three verses, paying attention to how the shepherd ‘makes us to lie down’ (be still) and then ‘leads us beside the still waters’. You may even underline that word ‘leads’ because that would suggest we are ‘following’.

Now look at verse 3 as the promise of ‘restoring one’s soul’ is assured. Is that not what we are studying in regards to returning to our ‘first love’ and ‘doing those things we did at the start’? “All we like sheep...have gone astray” (Isa. 53:6; Rom. 3:10-18). And how did Jesus describe and look upon the multitudes of afflicted people when He was here, citing Matt. 9:35-36?

Now comes the most significant line in this Psalm that is easy to overlook: “...He leads me in the paths of righteousness”. Again, may I remind us all...It’s one thing for Him to be ‘leading’....but it’s all together an entirely different thing for us to be ‘following’. And please be sure to note WHERE...He is leading us - ‘the paths of righteousness’!

Here’s a good short definition I hope we can agree upon for the word ‘righteousness’; it means doing what is right in God’s eyes.

Now I know most of us were taught and conditioned to believe that we could ‘never be righteous enough for God’...and that ‘our righteousness is like filthy rags in His sight’(Isa. 64:6); but we are not talking about us being righteous because of ‘things’ we do. So then the common line of teaching was we were ‘made righteous by our faith in Jesus’; which sounds great, but can be rather deceptive if you are looking for an ‘easy way out’.

You see...having ‘faith in Christ’ is more than just giving lip/head acknowledgment that Jesus is the Son of God and died on a cross for our sins. Obedience to Him is the fruit of our faith. You can’t just quote John 3:16 and ignore Heb. 5:9. Now look at Heb. 3:16-19 as it doesn’t take a theologian to conclude that this first generation of folks who came out of Egypt never entered the Promised Land because of their ‘disobedience and unbelief’.

And may I remind you that it was this generation we are told were an example and warning to us believers today (1 Cor. 10:6-11).

Let’s finish up today in 1 John. Please underline 2:29, and then read through 3:1-10 and you might also underline 7 & 10 there as well. Oh, and where is God’s ‘wrath’ being revealed, or poured out on today according to Rom. 1:18? Meet me here tomorrow.