“You,
beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy
Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 20-21
Among
the basic rules for membership in the United Societies of John Wesley’s day was
to “stay in love with God”. We know that what makes relationships tick
above all is constant communication. St. Jude expresses this very thing
in reminding the faithful that we must “build” upon the relationship our Lord
has established with His Church. What strikes me most in this passage,
however, is the encouragement to “look for mercy”. This, I think, is the
one thing above all else we should never take for granted, the one thing we
must never overlook even as we remember that the essential attribute of our
Lord is His mercy.
It
is knowing these things of our Lord that encourages a heart filled with faith
and joy and enables us to express ourselves in earnest worship not only in the
hour of the formal worship service we share with our fellow disciples but also
in each waking hour. Let us hold fast to these things so that we may find
the fullness of joy and peace as we continue our journey of discipleship.
Blessings,
Michael
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