Advent Devotion for December 6, 2019 from Apostles By-the-Sea - Episode 6

Friday, December 6, 2019

Jude 1-8

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

To those who are called, who are beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ:

² May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.

³ Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. ⁴For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵ Now I desire to remind you, though you are fully informed, that the Lord, who once for all saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶And the angels who did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day.

Reflection:

Jude writes about the coming of the Lord and the judgment on the day of his return. The judgment Jude describes sounds horrible, but the Christian should take notice of the first verse of our reading which shows that the letter is written to those who are called, who are beloved in God the Father, and kept safe for Jesus Christ. As Christians, the judgment Jude describes is one we need not fear. We are kept safe for Jesus Christ, and that means we’re kept safe until he returns. And when he does, Jude’s benediction for us of mercy, peace and love will be ours in abundance.