But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
Jude 20-21 (NASB)
In a recent study/meditation of Jude, and the verses offered in this post I found a simple description of how the child of God should conduct themselves – I like simple things! It does not present itself in a complicated multi-point direction, which suits me fine. It will not surprise some of you who know me that I was thrilled to be able to apply a nautical theme too, which I feel sheds some light on the message.
I see the child of God as a fisherman, albeit of the world rather than the shores of Galilee like the disciples. Fishing for lost souls is our calling as the crew of the Gospel boat; we bait our hooks and cast our nets into the waves praying for a good catch for our Captain, Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
In verse 20 the Captain calls us to “build yourselves up on your most holy faith” for the journey; that we should have our foundation in Him and in the “Fisherman’s Manual” – the Word of God. No modern fisherman casts off his lines without having consulted his charts and confirmed that his radar is operational; the same is true of the child of God – he/she too has consulted their source of guidance.
Also in verse 20 is our second point, that the Lord’s crew should be “praying in the Holy Spirit.” Every journey in life by a child of God, whether short or long, should be covered in holy prayer through the Holy Spirit. He is our lifeline from our Lord to the Father in Heaven, our destination on that fair shore. Reading His Word should always be supplemented by prayer in the Spirit; He shines the light of God’s wisdom upon the text we read and follow.
In the first two points, we anchor ourselves in God’s love, providing His wisdom and direction. The next step (verse 21) is our hope; “waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.“ Remembering our lifelong fishing trip with our Captain, we look forward to coming ashore eventually to land our catch and to be rewarded for our efforts by our Captain. The whole business from our redemption to our going Home is achieved by God’s mercy bestowed upon us. We can claim no merit other than the loveliness of His choosing us.
Dear Reader, today in our text we have a simple three-point plan for life as the Lord’s fishermen: 1. Build yourselves up in the Word of God, 2. Pray in the Spirit, and 3. Look forward to Heaven every day. In following our Captain and the Word we will reach the journey’s end someday to hear those lovely words “Well done good and faithful servant.”
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Devotional Treasures
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