Day Three: Jude

Today I was in a book of Jude. Like Obadiah it is a very short book- only one chapter. It is a quick read and I really enjoyed it! In fact, I may have found a new favorite verse!

The letter opens with Jude introducing himself to his audience. As he does he says in verse 2:

“May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.”

There a plenty of blessings in Scripture, but this is first time I remember reading this one. It struck me as something we all need in our lives- ever increasing mercy, peace and love.

As I went on I discovered that Jude wasn’t actually planning on writing a letter about the topic he addresses. He tells the people that he was eagerly planning to write about the salvation we share- but instead urged them to defend their faith.

I automatically thought that he meant from forces outside the church- stay strong and don’t let the world sway you or something. But that isn’t the case here. In this brief letter Jude begins the urge the people to live holy lives- not to surrender to the idea that grace allows us to live immoral lives. He gives several examples from the Old Testament and from the fellowship they already have with local believers, and one clear idea emerges.

In verse 19 he states:

“These people are the ones creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because the do not have God’s Spirit in them.”

To me it really highlighted that our own human instincts are flawed. I’ve read over and over where scripture has encourage me to put aside worldly desires but I don’t remember it saying so clearly that many times our instinctive desire, action or thought is the wrong one. Most of the letter gives examples of what this type of living looks like- and to avoid it, defend against it.

Then in the final few verses, Jude circles back to what he desired for the people in verse 2- mercy. He encourages the believes to show mercy to those who are struggling, to rescue those in danger of judgment and again to show mercy to others!

Tomorrow I will be tackling Isaiah- and hopefully on Tuesday I’ll be able to read the Psalms. So far this has been a great study- though I am marking down quite a bit of things down for further study later. Thanks for reading!

In Christ,

Karen