The 3 R’s

Remember, Repent, Renew

On the drive to church this morning, passing familiar fields, weathered barns, and roads that have carried generations of Rock Island families to the same places for decades, I found myself thinking about how much of life depends on tending things before they quietly fade. A fence neglected long enough begins to lean. A garden ignored long enough becomes overgrown. Relationships left unattended grow distant despite the best intentions. Faith is no different.

That thought stayed with me throughout today’s message.

Our pastor began in the book of Acts with Apollos, a gifted speaker whose knowledge was substantial, whose enthusiasm was genuine, and whose desire to serve God was obvious, yet whose understanding remained incomplete. Rather than correcting him publicly or treating his limitations as a reason for criticism, Priscilla and Aquila invited him into conversation and helped him move deeper into truth. Shortly afterward, Paul encountered believers who had received John’s baptism but knew nothing of the Holy Spirit. Following baptism in the name of Jesus and the receiving of the Holy Spirit, their faith moved beyond information and became something visible, transformative, and powerful.

Ephesus soon became known as a place where conviction produced action. People openly confessed practices they once embraced. Those involved in magic gathered valuable books and burned them despite their enormous worth because obedience mattered more than preserving what no longer belonged in their lives. Revival spread throughout the city as hearts changed and God’s Word advanced.

What makes the story so striking is what happened later.

When Jesus addressed the church at Ephesus in Revelation, He spoke to a congregation possessing many qualities any church would be proud to claim. Perseverance remained strong. Discernment remained sharp. False teaching found little room to survive. Commitment to truth had not disappeared. Endurance through difficulty had not weakened.

Anyone looking from a distance would have seen a thriving congregation marked by conviction, endurance, and disciplined obedience.

While everyone else could have pointed to perseverance, good doctrine, and faithful service as evidence that everything was well, Christ looked beyond appearances.

His concern reached past accomplishments and settled upon the heart, where the love that had once inspired those actions no longer burned with the same intensity.

As the sermon unfolded, an image came to mind of a well-used blade carried faithfully for years. The tool still functions. The work still gets done. The owner still relies upon it. Yet repeated use without sharpening slowly removes the edge that once made every task easier. Nothing dramatic happens in a single day. Dullness arrives gradually.

Spiritual life often follows a similar pattern.

Responsibilities accumulate. Familiar routines replace wonder. Activities connected to faith continue uninterrupted while affection for Christ quietly loses intensity. Good habits remain present even as the heart drifts from the gratitude, awe, and dependence that once felt natural.

Christ’s response was remarkably simple.

Remember.

Repent.

Renew.

The call to remember reaches back to the beginning, to those moments when the reality of salvation first settled into the soul, when forgiveness felt astonishing, when grace seemed almost impossible to comprehend, and when gratitude flowed naturally because the sacrifice of Christ had become deeply personal.

Repentance requires honest examination rather than excuses, defensiveness, or justification. Psalm 51 provides one of Scripture’s clearest pictures through David’s response after being confronted with his sin. No attempt was made to shift blame. No effort was spent minimizing wrongdoing. A broken heart approached God seeking mercy, cleansing, restoration, and truth.

Renewal follows where humility creates room for God to work.

What once felt clouded becomes easier to see, burdens no longer seem quite so heavy to carry, and a sense of joy that had gradually faded begins to emerge once again.

Perhaps the most important lesson from today’s message is that spiritual maturity never removes the need for these practices. Years of faithful service cannot replace them. Knowledge cannot replace them. Experience cannot replace them. Every believer, regardless of age or stage, benefits from returning regularly to the foundation upon which faith rests.

Gathering on the Lord’s Day provided an appropriate setting for such a reminder. Reflection upon Christ’s suffering, betrayal, crucifixion, resurrection, and victory over death directs attention back toward the center of Christianity itself. The cross was never intended to become a distant memory revisited occasionally. Its purpose remains deeply relevant because hearts continually need the grace found there.

The believers in Ephesus still possessed sound doctrine, strong discernment, steadfast endurance, and a willingness to stand for truth even when doing so was difficult.

Yet something of greater value had slowly slipped from their grasp.

Christ’s warning reaches across the centuries with undiminished relevance because the same thing can happen to any of us.

Returning to that first love begins by remembering the grace that changed everything, honestly confronting whatever has created separation, and allowing God to restore the wonder, gratitude, and devotion that first drew the heart toward Him.