¹⁷This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. ¹⁸Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. ¹⁹And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.

The effect of the gospel was nothing short of amazing. Fear overwhelmed the Ephesian populace. The name of Jesus was on everyone’s lips. People came out in droves to see what was happening, and the attraction, of course, was initially the miraculous things taking place. One impetus for the widespread acclaim was the testimony of the demons who turned against the usual sorcerers and acknowledged a greater power in Jesus and Paul.

The effect was so great that “many” converted from their dark magic practices and burned their books at a huge financial loss. The books probably contained incantations, cultic instructions, and propaganda related to sorcery. Incinerating them indicates a complete repudiation—burning the bridges to the past, so to speak. They destroyed all their connections with their past practices.

When Christ truly converts a person, a break with the past often comes as a result of the heart’s response to being set free of all that is against God. For some, it may mean walking away from an earthly idol. For one new believer, it meant never going to see a professional baseball game again, because it had become an all-consuming idol to him before he turned to Christ. For others, it means giving up a long-standing habit/idol like smoking or alcohol. For others, it is limiting the kind of movies one watches. The list is as diverse as the idols people have in their lives.

The fledgling church established at Ephesus certainly got a good start in terms of attendance! And it continued well, through the coming decades, having had great teaching from Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos, Paul, and then later Timothy (see 1 Tim. 1:3). And it became a significant center for Christianity as it grew in the ancient world. Unfortunately, toward the end of the first century, John wrote that the church there had left their first love (Rev. 2:1–4). What a tragedy. This fellowship of believers there had such a great beginning, with excellent teaching for a number of their early years, and were commended for their right doctrine and resistance to false teachers—yet they fell out of love with the One who saved them, whose name was once magnified among them. They left their “first love.”

Lord, I love You because You first loved me. Help me keep the flame burning.