Keep yourselves in the love of God...
— Jude 21
DOES JUDE MEAN I am to keep myself so sweet and wonderful that God won’t have any other choice but to love me? If that were the case, I would be in big trouble. Thankfully, that is not what Jude meant. He meant that we are to keep ourselves in a place of blessing—a place where God can do all the things He longs to do for us.
The giants within the Promised Land frightened the children of Israel so much that they refused to cross over. Though they had been delivered out of Egypt, they perished in the wilderness because of unbelief. They stopped short of the full blessings God had for them.
THE BEST WAY TO KEEP YOURSELF IN THE LOVE OF GOD IS TO REALIZE THAT JESUS IS COMING SOON.
Many of you have been delivered out of the bondage of sin, but you are living in the wilderness. You haven’t entered in to that full, rich life in Jesus because you are still clinging to the world.
Jesus is coming soon. Something about that thought loosens your grip on the things of this world. It makes you want to reach for heaven. It makes you want to purify yourself and change your priorities. It gives you an urgency to share the message of the gospel to a dying world.
Keep yourself in the love of God. Believe His promises; submit to Him; obey everything He asks you to do. Then prepare yourself for all the blessings He will bring.
Father, we pray that You will help us keep ourselves in that place of blessing, remembering that You are coming soon.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.