When things turn sour around us let us just go deeper in His ways and that will save us from wandering in the wilderness of gossip and useless pursuit of those things that do not matter.
One morning I was incessantly gripping about one Christian worker and his behaviour and my wife gently told me to mind my own business. That morning she had read the Gospel of John and the particular incident in which Jesus says to Peter about John “If I want him to remain alive until I return what is that to you? You must follow me”. When I am tempted to comment negatively on some Christians I am always reminded of that morning and I try to veer away from the usual complains.
The book of Jude says twice ‘but you beloved’. The context is what to avoid and what to espouse as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. This will save us from sour experiences and make us strong believers in the Lord.
What we avoid is very important. The readers are told to remember the teaching and warning of the apostles that in the last days things are not going to get better but worse. The people within the church will be following the ways of the world and causing all sorts of problems in the Christian community. It is not possible to close our ears and eyes to what is happening in our community but we can save ourselves by the teaching of the Bible. When things turn sour around us let us just go deeper in His ways and that will save us from wandering in the wilderness of gossip and useless pursuit of those things that do not matter.
After avoiding the negatives in our life the writer of the book again gently addresses the reader with endearing words ‘but you beloved’ and tells them to concentrate on positive things of life. Let us see what they are. Those things are precious jewels of our faith. They are our real treasures.
We are to build ourselves in our most holy faith. Our faith is most precious for us. This is the only thing which no moth can destroy; no thief can steal and will not rust. This faith is holy in the sense it is different than all the faiths. This faith is not man made but revealed by God Himself in the coming and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. We are to build which means it will take time and deliberate efforts. The beautiful thing is that we are to build not alone but with the help of each other. In this little verse we are encouraged with the combined effort of the entire community to believe and build our faith. My faith cannot be built without the help of my fellow believers and at times I will need the weakest member in the church to help me build my faith.
We are to pray in the Holy Spirit. We all pray for all sorts of things and most people of the earth pray to one god or the other. What is the most unique thing about Christian prayer? It is that we pray in the Holy Spirit. But what does it really mean? We must know the root of the reasons of Christian prayer. In simple term it is not to ask God what we want but to ask God what He wants in and through us. Unlike the usual prayers it makes us aware of His will than our wishes. When we say in His name we have agreed that it has to be as per His will.
We are to keep ourselves in God’s love. I think the most important word we use in our Christian language is love but it becomes pretty hard to experience and practice God’s love. The Lord Jesus commanded us in John 13: 34,35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” We are first called to love one another and when we are being full of love as a community, the love of God naturally flows through us in all of God’s creation. Again the emphasis is we can only genuinely love God as we love one another. It is not an option but a command.
We are to patiently wait for the appearance of the mercy of God who will fully make us realise the experience of eternal life. When we believe in Jesus Christ we begin to have eternal life from that instant but we will only fully experience this when we die or when the Lord Jesus appears. The simple but most astounding thing is a true believer of the Lord Jesus is not going to die but he is going to live for ever and the seed of immortality is right in the heart of each believer now.
So next time you start complaining or diverting your mind to nonessential or harmful things just remember the lovely phrase ‘But you beloved’. You will be blessed and you will be a blessing to all the people you come in contact with.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for your word as each of them shine like jewel for me. Let me walk in the light of the jewels of God’s Word. I may not go astray in the wilderness but pursue the right path.
Republished in new layout on 8/20/2013
Discussion about this post