Lent Day 9: Build Up and Keep

On this ninth lenten morning, would you join me in prayer?

Lord Jesus, 

whatever happens today, 

we surrender all that we are, have, or hope to be 

into Your gracious and redemptive hand 

so that we may conduct ourselves 

in a manner worthy of Your gospel. 

We know 

to be worthy of Your gospel means 

that we have no rights of our own; 

we are the clay while You are the potter. 

Whatever we receive or give

is truly a result of Your benevolent grace.

Help us to live 

in humility and harmony within the body of Christ -- 

regardless of background or preference -- 

contending as one person for the precious faith You have granted to us, 

without being frightened in any way 

by those who oppose Your way and Your will. 

May all our ambitions and agendas 

be replaced with Your attitude, O Christ! 

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen!

The brief letter penned by Jude, the half-brother of Christ and full brother of James, was written because of the writer’s concern that Christians might be drawn away from God’s truth. This uneasiness emerged because some godless philosophies had infiltrated the body of Christ twisting God’s grace “into a license for immorality” (v. 4)—an erroneous viewpoint that denies the lordship of Christ and the true meaning of His costly grace. Hence, Jude wrote to exhort “those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ” (v. 2) to “contend for the faith” (v. 3).

The term “contend” suggests that Christ-followers have something worth defending. Instead of providing us with defensive tactics based on human effort, Jude wrote in verses 20-21, "But you dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."

The two operative verbs in the above passage are "build up" and "keep." Jude claims that we build ourselves up in faith and prayer—both of which depend solely on the benevolent power of God's Word. Graciously, the Lord invites us to familiarize our minds with His sweet promises—one of which tells us that believers receive a faith that is precious through the righteousness of Christ (2 Peter 1:1)—in order that we may grow in trusting that God will do in us what He has already purposed. 

As heretical thought patterns bombard our minds and as we face confrontations from the culture and our own flesh, we can remember that God has empowered us to take a stand. As we remember, we learn to believe. As we believe, we learn to rely on God through prayer. As we rely on God/pray in His name, our belief grows and deepens until our faith in Christ, the sole foundation, increases.

The second phrase “keep yourselves in God’s love” does not suggest a passive condition akin to the inaction of the servant who received (and merely buried) his one talent. Here, the phrase means to "keep" like a shepherd watches his flock—a shepherd remains alert, fights off malicious beasts, feeds his lambs, and works diligently. 

How might we “keep” like that? Might we learn to trust in the One whom the Father has sent? Could we pray that God will convict our hearts and ready our feet to run away from anything and everything that competes or distracts from our intimacy with Christ?

Let us pray that we will persevere in relying on God’s true grace that “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us.” (Titus 2:12-14)