Which letter is written to you?

Seven churches, seven very different situations, and Jesus doesn’t send the same letter twice. Ephesus needed to hear that correct doctrine without love is worthless. Smyrna and Philadelphia, poor and squeezed on every side, needed nothing but encouragement. Sardis looked alive and was already dead. Laodicea was the one church that received no praise at all — and the one Jesus still knocked for anyway.

The uncomfortable exercise isn’t picking your favorite church. It’s noticing which letter you’d actually receive if Jesus wrote to you by name this week, not the one you’d prefer.

Questions to reflect on

• If Jesus wrote your church — or you personally — a letter this week, which of the seven would it sound most like, and what’s the one thing it would ask you to do differently?
• Laodicea got no praise and still got a knock at the door. Where do you need to believe that’s true for you too, rather than assuming you’re past being wanted?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you know my situation better than I do. Speak to me the letter I need, not the one I would prefer, and give me the courage to change what you ask me to change. Thank you that you still knock, even at my door. Amen.